Westmoreland County inks $20.9M contract for prison inmate medical care

Westmoreland County will pay nearly double for medical care of jail inmates under a new five-year contract approved by commissioners.

The $20.9 million contract with PrimeCare Medical Inc. of Harrisburg will include increased services that focus on mental health treatment and support for inmates at the Hempfield lockup.

Commissioners selected the company from four firms that sought the contract. Wexford Health Sources, which for nearly a decade ran the jail’s infirmary and other medical services, was among the companies that made proposals.

The county will pay PrimeCare Medical $3.9 million in the first year of the deal with an increase to more than $4 million in 2023. Costs will increase in the final three years to $4.1 million in 2025; $4.3 million in 2026; and $4.4 million in 2027.

Medical care for inmates under Wexford’s expired five-year, $10.5 million contract averaged more than $2 million annually.

PrimeCare is expected to begin work at the jail Sept. 1.

Warden Bryan Kline said the additional costs come with enhanced services for mental health treatment.

About 70% of inmates at the jail have mental health needs, Kline said.

“There will be additional staffing and increased mental health services,” Kline said.

The company will hire and pay salaries of medical staff at the jail. Officials said the county will receive an additional 351 hours of on-site care each week under terms of the deal.

Commissioners said they expected to pay more in the new contract.

“The previous contract reflected the state of the county at the time it was negotiated. Rising costs from the industry, coupled with the increased mental health needs, are driving health care costs in every sector,” Commissioner Doug Chew said.

The contract includes $239,700 toward a new program to provide inmates with suboxone or methadone, medication that helps alleviate withdrawal symptoms for heroin addicts. Inmates who enter jail with prescriptions for those medications will continue to receive them while in custody, Kline said.

The county earlier this year received a $350,000 grant to implement the drug addiction maintenance program.

Officials said additional mental health treatment and increased therapy and counseling for inmates are expected to reduce recidivism rates and ultimately reduce the numbers of inmates behind bars at the lockup.

Commissioners budgeted $15.9 million for jail operations in 2022.

“Unfortunately, all companies that submitted a proposal were very much more expensive than our last contract. It’s definitely going to affect our budget, just like the rising costs of everything. For this reason, we didn’t choose the most expensive company,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said.