LANSING – Bidding on providing physicians and hospital care for prisoners has yielded a new provider for the Department of Corrections, a company based in Tennessee, according to reports.
Prison Health Services, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, will reportedly take over the prison healthcare system in April, replacing Correctional Medical Services for the $326 million contract.
The current contractor, which has been overseeing health care in Michigan prisons since 1998 when the system was privatized, came under fire over the last couple of years for alleged inadequate care. A review of the system led to rebidding of the contract earlier this year.
The department has vowed heavier oversight of the new contractor than it provided CMS as a part of restructuring the department’s health care program that includes working to hire additional nurses for prison health clinics.
.
The PHS already provides services in 22 states, including for Genesee and Kent counties in Michigan, according to its website.
But it also has seen similar complaints of inadequate care in other states over the same period as CMS was found to be falling short by an independent investigation and a federal judge (those findings also criticized mental health care in the prisons, which was not run by CMS). A New York Times report from 2005 showed PHS was responsible for at least two deaths in local jails where it was overseeing care, citing state investigator reports that the company had too little staff and was withholding prescription drugs.
“PHS thinks the report missed on a number of very positive things that were happening on the time,” said spokesperson David Waymire. “The company has an outstanding track record of meeting the standards of the various accrediting agencies.”
Prisoner advocates have argued against contracting for any health care services in the prisons, but corrections officials have said they are not able to fill all of the needed physician openings using the state hiring system, making a contractor more effective. But Corrections Director Patricia Caruso has also said she would not support moving to a private contractor for nursing staff in the clinics, opting instead for restructuring how those jobs are offered.
Department of Management and Budget spokesperson Kassie Kretzschmar declined to comment on specifics of the contract or how many companies had bid until the contract is approved by the Administrative Board, which is expected to happen next month, but she said none of the state’s medical schools had bid, a recommendation that had been made by prisoner advocates as a solution to the physician shortage for prisons.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
