By Cindy Swirko
Gainsville.com
Fla. — Hundreds of medical workers at North Central Florida prisons will begin applying next week to keep their jobs as the privatization of inmate health care starts transitioning to a January takeover.
The privatization of health care statewide is expected to save the Florida Department of Corrections about $60 million, DOC spokeswoman Ann Howard said.
North Florida prison health care will be contracted to Corizon, a Tennessee-based company that provides medical services in prisons nationwide.
“It has been in the works for a very long time. It was done more than a year ago. This was a department decision, and the cost saving is going to be immense,” Howard said. “One of the most expensive things we have to do is inmate health care, and it is a hard number to predict from year to year.”
Full story: Interviews beginning as health care is privatized at state prisons