As of midnight, Sept.1, Allegheny Health Network began providing medical care to inmates at the Allegheny County Jail.
Allegheny County Manager William McCain briefed media on the new services just hours before the old contract with Corizon Health Inc. expired.
Corizon had been targeted by inmate advocates and family members that blamed a series of deaths and near deaths on the inadequate medical care. Since it took over medical care at the jail in 2013, there have been 11 deaths in the jail, seven in 2014 and four this year. In June, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he would not renew the Corizon contract.
Though the new agreement addresses many of the concerns voiced by those calling for Corizon’s ouster, New Voices Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Health Justice Project called for a Sept. 1 protest at the jail.
The protestors planned to submit several thousand petition signatures to Fitzgerald calling for the dismissal of Warden Orlando Harper. Harper, the county and Corizon are defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tomi Lynn Harris, whose son 39-year-old Frank Smart died after experiencing seizures while in jail custody in January.
The Corizon contract cost the county $11.5 million per year. McCain said the new contract will cost anywhere from $2-$4 million more. It includes the full-time equivalent of nearly three physicians; two full-time psychiatrists; and eight full-time nurse practitioners or physician assistants.
Medicine prescribed by Allegheny Health jail personnel will be distributed by the John J. Kane Regional Centers.
Additional contracts include a maximum of $500,000 Correctional Dental Associates for on-site dental service, a maximum of $300,000 to Chardonnay Dialysis for on-site services as needed, a maximum of $15,000 to Thera Fusion for physical therapy as needed, and a maximum of $10,000 to Institutional Eye Car Inc. for optometry and eye glasses.
Allegheny Health will also provide its own specialized services including a physician who will administer treatment to HIV-positive inmates on a monthly basis, and another who will provide care for pregnant inmates on a weekly basis.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newÂpittsburghcourier.com.)
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