BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission voted to accept a contract setting up medical care at the jail when they begin moving inmates back into the newly remodeled facility later this month.
At Monday’s commission meeting Advanced Correctional Health Care Program Consultant Art Rose gave the commission a presentation on the company and a plan to provide health care for the inmates in the county jail.
Under the proposal accepted Monday by the county commission a doctor will come to the jail once a week and a full-time nurse will be at the jail for 30 hours per week.
“Our goal is to make sure the inmates get the care they have the legal right too,” said Rose.
During the off hours, according to Rose and jail staff will help provide medical care with the help of an on call doctor. Rose said the officers will go through a series of protocols and present that information to the on-call doctor. This will allow the doctor to provide medical decisions.
“We’re going to teach them how to get information from the inmate,” Rose said “Our goal is to treat them (inmates), as much as possible within the walls of the jail.”
Rose said they also provide medical malpractice for the doctor and nurse. They will also provide civil liability insurance for the county staff.
Advanced Correctional Health Care provides medical services for 268 counties in 17 states. That includes 23 counties in Kansas.
The commission approved a yearly contract with Advanced Correctional Health Care for $99,968.14. The contract includes a $15,000 pool that will be used to cover certain, extremely rare medications that are not covered in the basic plan. The pool also covers any off-site medical care. Any money left over at the end of the year is transferred back to the county.
It will take between 60 and 90 days for Advanced Correctional Health Care to hire staff and begin operations in Ellis County.
In the interim jail staff will be able to take inmates to First Call for Help for medical care.
Also at Monday’s meeting Undersheriff Bruce Hertel said they will begin training in the jail as early as Tuesday and they could begin moving inmates into the jail by March 21.
In other business County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes presented the commission with a schedule for the 2017 budget process.
The commission also met in three separate executive sessions. Two of them were to discuss non-elected personnel matters and the third was for land acquisition. No action was taken.
As the Public Building Commission they approved five change orders total $25,484.