Washington County seeks tighter rules in contract bidding

Washington County is ratcheting down costs and imposing stricter rules on health care contracting at its jail, after a recent audit revealed staffing shortages from its medical contractor and a lack of oversight from the county.

A new Request for Proposal for jail health care services was issued Nov. 25 by the Washington County Administrators Office (CAO). Bids are due Jan. 16 for inmate care beginning July 1.

The current provider, Corizon Health Services, lost its contract two years early.

On Nov. 24, County Auditor John Hutzler released a final audit of jail health care services showing Corizon had not provided adequate staffing for inmate care.

We estimate the value of the minimum specified staffing that the county didnt receive between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2012, to be at least $350,000, according to Hutzlers audit.

After we raised concerns about Corizon staffing in an interim report last year, the county extended Corizons contract for only two years rather than the four, which the contract would have allowed, Hutzler said. That extension will expire June 30, 2015.

Corizon is eligible to bid again, under significantly changed terms. The new contract should leave little doubt about expectations, checks and balances, and the ramifications of falling short.

Whoever wins the contract will be subject to new accuracy checks from a third-party auditor who will check hospital billings.

More than a dozen changes have been made to the document, including tightened performance and service requirements, new budget controls and clearly spelled-out minimum staffing requirements by position, day and shift.

Read the original:

Jail health care under more scrutiny