Estimated $3.7M saved by Pa. jail’s health care provider since 2013

“There are a lot of jails that don’t have the mental health aspect five days a week — and we do”

March 25, 2017 12:47 PM

By Keith Gushard
The Meadville Tribune

SAEGERTOWN, Pa. — The Crawford County jail’s medical provider has saved the county an estimated $3.7 million on inmate health care during the past four years.

Chuck Luffey, regional coordinator for PrimeCare Medical Inc. of Harrisburg, presented the estimate during his annual report at the county Prison Board’s monthly meeting Thursday in Saegertown. PrimeCare has been the jail’s medical provider since January 2013.

PrimeCare Medical Inc. was hired by the county to be a comprehensive manager for the jail’s health care programs for inmates. The county previously had various contracts for individual medical services such as physician, dental, psychiatric and pharmacy rather than one comprehensive contract. PrimeCare began partial service to the county in November 2012 and then took over all medical services in January 2013.

Under the old multiple contract system, the jail’s health care costs were $1.65 million in 2011 and $1.07 million in 2012.

Under PrimeCare, the jail’s total health care costs were $791,437 in 2013, $734,512 in 2014, $886,483 in 2015 and $870,603 in 2016. In May 2015, a full-time mental health counselor position was added to PrimeCare’s contract.

Luffey said 2016 was the first full year of having a mental health counselor on staff. The counselor had 2,275 mental health visits during the year, Luffey said.

Having round-the-clock medical care available is a way to continue to control the jail’s medical expenses rather than having to transport a prisoner after normal working hours to a medical facility to be evaluated by a nurse or physician, according to Warden Kenneth Saulsbery.

“Having them here 24/7 — that is huge,” Saulsbery told the Prison Board. “Also, there are a lot of jails that don’t have the mental health aspect five days a week — and we do.”

The company is now in the final year of its five-year contract, which expires in October, Luffey said. The contract has three one-year options to extend the contract, he said.

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