By Steve Schultze
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wisc. -- A judge Friday ordered Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and inmate advocates to submit plans for temporarily filling key vacant posts in the county’s jail medical unit.
The proposals likely will include outsourcing the care to a private Florida company, the route Clarke has long advocated but the County Board has resisted. Clarke still hopes to eventually win approval for Armor Correctional Services to take over the inmate medical job on a contract worth more than $16 million a year.
Armor will be asked if it would agree to run the jail care for nine months to a year, while other long-term options are explored, including having the Medical College of Wisconsin provide top administrators and retaining nurses and other jail medical workers as county employees.
Milwaukee County also is exploring whether any nearby counties would be willing to accept about 20 to 50 Milwaukee County inmates with serious medical needs to ensure they get proper care as another alternative, said Ron Stadler, a private attorney representing the county.
Full story: Judge orders Clarke, inmate advocates to submit plans to fill vacant jail posts