Jordan Powell, assistant at the county's office of general counsel, said there are two separate contracts with Wellpath: one for the jail and one for the juvenile detention center. Effective May 1, the new contract will combine the two existing contracts.
“We’re keeping all of the current services that Wellpath provides for the jail and the JDC and expanding some of those services and adding some new ones in,” Powell said.
Everyday services, such as intake screenings, health assessments, dental care and on-site emergency services for inmates, staff and employees, are still in effect under the new combined contract. Wellpath also provides telehealth services as well as scheduling and coordinating outpatient services as needed.
One of the new services added under the combined contract is blood draw procedures that are conducted by Wellpath at the jail. Powell said this will save officers time so that local agencies do not have to transport inmates to hospitals and wait for them to get their blood drawn, which are usually requested by a judge.
“We have enhanced the scope of the mental health services that [Wellpath] are providing. We’ve seen a need for it in the jail,” Powell said. “We have enhanced those services and added additional staff for those services.”
There will be new positions added May 1 and then more phased in Oct. 1, according to Powell.
“This is an expensive endeavor providing health care inside those two facilities, and I just want to commend [Powell] and staff and everybody there. They spent a lot of time refining this and working on this to really try to address issues that we know are there, especially around mental health,” Commissioner Lon Shell said.
