A health care company was denied a contract for Shelby County's jail. Why it's appealing the decision

Leaders of a jail health care provider have been left confused and bewildered after Shelby County denied their proposal to provide health care to the county's correctional facilities. MEDIKO Correctional Health, headquartered in Virginia, applied for the Shelby County contract in December and finally received the non-award verdict in June.

Despite ongoing questions about inmate health and previous litigation between the county and Wellpath over a previous contract, the correctional health care provider yet again received the contract. Documents provided by MEDIKO show that Wellpath received a lower score from the selection committee. Per the documents, MEDIKO was told they did not receive the contract due to cost.

Kaveh Ofogh, a doctor and the founder and CEO of MEDIKO, prides himself on the "zero judgment" record. The company has never been taken to court in its 26 years of operation. MEDIKO currently provides correctional health to 25 jails around the United States, including one in Tennessee. Ofogh said that the care MEDIKO provides is unmatched compared to its competitors.

"What is unique about MEDIKO is that because I'm the sole owner and I happen to be a physician, I have taken a Hippocratic Oath," Ofogh said. "And as a result of that, we have kept the DNA of MEDIKO to be medically and not financially driven."

Ofogh said he became interested in contracting with Shelby County because of news reports that surfaced about the medical care in the Shelby County detention facilities. In an appeal letter MEDIKO sent to the county after it was denied the contract, the company cited reporting from The Daily Memphian as one of the reasons why the health care contract for the jail should change hands.

"When I was reading the disturbing news, I thought that enough is enough. Maybe we can help them because I have been able to help other facilities that used to be on the news all the time, such as Richmond City Justice Center in Richmond, Virginia," Ofogh said.

A recent Commercial Appeal investigation showed mortality rates have been rising at the Shelby County Jail and there have been 52 deaths in the facility since 2016. Reporting from The CA also showed suicide is a leading cause of death for Shelby County Jail inmates.

Ofogh said because of this trend, MEDIKO's extra staff training for custody personnel would allow for risk assessment of inmates upon arrival at the jail, in addition to extra training for jail security personnel.

"We're going to provide training for the security personnel of the jail how to be more vigilant and aware of indicators for risk of suicide high-risk patients," Ofogh said.

The CA reached out to Wellpath but did not recieve a response by publication time.

MEDIKO denied because of cost, adding new positions

According to documents provided to The CA, MEDIKO outscored all other vendors who responded to the request for proposals from the selection committee. The county said the cost of the proposal MEDIKO gave was the reason why the county chose a different vendor. The proposed cost of MEDIKO's contract was over $36 million for one year, while their competitor, Wellpath, was $28 million for a year.

Ofogh said the reason their bid was much higher was because of the increase in staffing MEDIKO would provide. The proposal that MEDIKO provided the county included 35 more full-time licensed health care professionals, while the county was only asking to provide four to five more employees per the request for proposals, Ofogh said.

"Of course, it'd be more expensive these are not construction workers," Ofogh said.

In February 2022, Tennessee Corrections Institute found deficiencies in medical services at the Shelby County Jail, commonly known as 201 Poplar, saying 14-day physicals were not up to date for inmates. That deficit was corrected by an April 2022 reinspection. Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner has acknowledged the need for more correctional staff overall. Bonner has said he wants to add 300 more correctional officers.

The proposal Wellpath submitted also did not meet the requirements to use 20% of the funds from the contract towards locally-owned small businesses and minority and women business enterprises in Shelby County, according to MEDIKO's appeal. The appeal letter claims Wellpath has only contributed 6.75% of its contract funds to locally-owned businesses and 3.375% to minority- or woman-owned businesses in fiscal year 2021.

Ofogh said MEDIKO's proposal included 24% of funds going towards businesses that met the requirements.

Another reason for the substantial price difference between Wellpath's contract and MEDIKO's is due to the salary increase for health care staff. The salary for health care employees at the jail has to be competitive so there are limited vacancies, Ofogh said.

Wellpath controversial history

On June 21, MEDIKO received a three-sentence letter telling the company that Shelby County had gone with a different vendor. Wellpath has been the health care provider for Shelby County detention facilities for the last 17 years, and the tenure has come with its share of controversy.

In their appeal letter, MEDIKO questioned whether Shelby County violated its own ordinances preventing the county from entering a contract with a company or individual who has pled or been found guilty of crimes involving governmental sales or purchases. MEDIKO cited a portion of the Shelby County Code they allege the County violated in their appeal letter.

Former CEO of Wellpath, Gerard Francis Boyle, pled guilty to federal bribery charges after engaging in a 13-year scheme. The bribes were sent to a now former sheriff in order to insure Wellpath would continue to have a contract with the Virginia jail they were servicing.

Kelly Roberts, strategic communications manager for the Shelby County Government, provided the following response to multiple questions the CA asked: “The normal procurement process is underway. We are currently in contract negotiations. We don’t typically comment on this process until it’s completed,” Roberts said in an email.

CNN also published an investigation into Correct Care Solutions, now known as Wellpath. The investigation showed hundreds of inmates in facilities where Wellpath provided health care died preventable deaths.

The CA has filed a public information request for the proposal Wellpath submitted to Shelby County but has not received any documents as of Tuesday.

More: This health condition is a leading cause of death in the US. And in the Shelby County Jail

In September 2020, Wellpath sued Shelby County because the contract for inmate health care services was rescinded by the county. Court documents show the case was dismissed on July 19, 2021.

The new contract has not been officially given to Wellpath as the Shelby County Board of Commissioners still needs to vote on the expenditure. Any contract over $50,000 has to be approved by commissioners. There is no information on when this contract will appear in front of the commission as of Tuesday.

Ofogh said he wants to implore the Shelby County Board of Commissioners to do the "right thing," and reverse the award to Wellpath. All County Commissioners have been contacted about the matter by Ofogh, but he said none of them have responded.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at Brooke.Muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter/X @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Why Shelby County denied MEDIKO's bid for jail's health care contract