Controller questions Westmoreland County Prison medical costs
May 22—Westmoreland Controller Jeffrey Balzer on Monday criticized an additional $175,000 expense that must be paid for medical services at the county prison.
The extra fee is required under a contract county commissioners approved with a new medical provider last summer. The agreement nearly doubles the costs to care for inmates, and the expense could continue to grow through August, when the first year of the deal ends, officials said.
"Why didn't we factor this into the original contract?" Balzer asked. "This is always going to be
somewhat of an unknown, but to spend as much as we did, we have to do better."
Commissioners last July cut ties with Wexford Health Sources, which for more than a decade served as the primary medical provider for inmates at the county prison in Hempfield. The county instead signed a new five-year, $20.9 million contract with PrimeCare Medical Inc. of Harrisburg.
The deal started last September and calls for the county to pay a base rate of $3.9 million for the first 12 months of service to treat inmates inside the prison.
That deal also capped costs for additional services, such as doctor and hospital visits and prescription drug costs, at $300,00 annually. Through the end of April, those costs exceeded the cap, requiring the county to pay an additional $175,000.
"We already missed it by more than half. I don't think anyone did anything wrong, but that $300,000 should be enough and that is clearly not enough," Balzer said.
Balzer said he wants to review those additional medical costs to determine why spending exceeded original projections.
Warden Bryan Kline said the county anticipated additional expenses and included a $250,000 line item in the 2023 budget to pay for higher medical fees associated with out-of-facility treatment and other costs.
"We expected this number to be higher and it was," Kline said.
Commissioner Doug Chew, who serves as chairman of the county prison board, said the hiring of PrimeCare Medical came with the expectation of higher costs as it nearly doubled the amount Westmoreland previously paid for inmate medical services.
Chew said commissioners weighed contract proposals last year and determined PrimeCare Medical offered the best menu of services at what officials considered to be reasonable costs.
"The price of health care is up generally, and this company was cheaper than the other company. The other company did not have any caps but the total costs were more expensive," Chew said
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
