The deaths of 11 Allegheny County Jail inmates helped make contract negotiations between the county and Corizon Health, the jail's former medical care provider, impossible, a letter from the company's CEO stated.
The county ended its contract with Corizon and took over health care at the jail at midnight Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that inmate deaths contributed to a climate in which productive discussions became impossible, though it's important to keep in mind that not all inmates who died at the jail over the past three years were our patients,” Dr. Woodrow A. Myers Jr., CEO of the Tennessee-based company, wrote in a letter to the Tribune-Review.
The company added a clarification to the letter when the Tribune-Review asked what Woodrow meant when he wrote not all inmates who died were Corizon's patients. He wrote that when inmates needed more specialized care than the jail could provide, they were transferred to a hospital and were under the care of physicians there.
Woodrow's comments are the first time Corizon acknowledged that deaths factored into the company's dismissal.
Amie Downs, a spokeswoman for the county, said officials were “not going to engage in a back and forth with Corizon through the media.”
County Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams, head of the Jail Oversight Advisory Board, which met Thursday and was often a venue for frustration about Corizon and health care at the jail, said he can't promise there will be no more deaths at the jail.
County Manager William McKain expects to spend $2 million to $3 million more than the nearly $12 million a year Corizon received. Doctors and psychologists from Allegheny Health Network will staff the jail.
Woodrow wrote that inmates tend to be sicker than the general public. They more often have mental illnesses, suffer from addiction or substance abuse issues and are difficult to work with, sometimes refusing to disclose health problems, take medications or follow instructions.
Allegheny Health Network and the county worked together for four months to develop a health care model for the jail, said Dan Laurent, spokesman for the hospital system. The jail's medical director, Dr. Donald Stechschulte, an AHN employee, has worked there since July, Laurent said. Dr. Abimbola Talabi, the jail's medical director under Corizon, remains at the facility.
Former Corizon nurses who applied for jobs with the county were hired. Lesli A. Travis, who will head the county's role at the jail, was a manager with Corizon.
Aaron Aupperlee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.
Full text of Sept. 3 letter from Dr. Woodrow A. Myers, Jr., CEO of Corizon Health
With Corizon Health no longer the inmate medical provider for the Allegheny County Jail, we want to assure the citizens of Pittsburgh that we worked collaboratively with county and union leaders through our final day to ensure all clinical care is current and there is no backlog awaiting the new medical management team. We leave the county with an improved inmate healthcare program but one in which significant challenges remain. We tried to address some of these challenges through contract negotiations with the county, but talks ended with the mutual decision between Corizon Health and Allegheny County to end the contract.
There is no doubt that inmate deaths contributed to a climate in which productive discussions became impossible, though it's important to keep in mind that not all inmates who died over the past three years were patients under our direct care. When a patient required more specialized medical care and attention than could be provided at the jail, they were admitted to the hospital where they were under the direct clinical care of hospital medical providers. Also, with a population as unhealthy as that found in a jail, sudden death for any number of reasons is a constant specter but each must be aggressively investigated to eliminate any preventable causes.
We stand by the care we provided for those who were patients. We are first and foremost healthcare providers. We entered our field to heal the sick and prevent illness. We feel profoundly defeated when we lose any patient under our care, and we understand the grief, frustration and helplessness their loved ones must feel.
We're proud of the improvements we've made since assuming the contract, including new disease management tools and infection control protocols and enhancing clinical services at the infirmary. Under our leadership, the jail successfully passed with 100 percent compliance the state drug and alcohol audit for each of the past two years. Our staff has worked hard to adopt practices and policies based on standards established by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and we are pleased that all Corizon employees who elected to stay have been offered positions.
We encourage the new provider not to view the jail infirmary as just another outpatient clinic. Inmate patients tend to be sicker than the general public and under an extraordinary amount of stress. An ever-growing number have acute mental illnesses, and many have substance abuse and addiction issues. Inmate patients can be difficult to work with, refusing to disclose their health histories, take their prescriptions, or comply with medical orders.
A high level of experienced healthcare managerial oversight is necessary, which Corizon provided through the weekly on-site presence of regional clinical and operational leadership at no additional cost. We understand the county will now spend an additional $2 million to $3 million to oversee care.
We regret we were unable to reach an agreement with Allegheny County that would have allowed Corizon Health to continue as the jail's healthcare provider. We hope our efforts to ensure a smooth transition continues the positive trend that we have been experiencing at the jail. We leave the inmate medical program better than we found it.
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