BY THE NUMBERS
$155,400: Bid for jail health care
150: Inmates covered under bid
65 cents: Charge for each additional inmate
3 percent: Built-in annual raise in contract.
Source: Polk County Commission
BENTON, Tenn. — After several months of high jail medical bills, Polk County commissioners have chosen a company to provide inmate health care.
Commissioners approved a $155,400 bid by Chattanooga-based Southern Health Partners. The contract includes a nurse at the jail for 48 hours a week, a physician once a week and dental care twice a month.
Southern Health Partners spokesman Brent DeWeese said nurses will be on call 24 hours a day and can contact a physician if necessary.
“I’m very pleased with this bid,” Sheriff Bill Davis said. “It sounds workable and is a vast improvement.”
Commissioners took bids last fall for a health care provider but rejected them as too high and rebid the contract. In the interim, inmates who needed medical care had to be treated at area hospitals.
The sheriff said his health care budget was nearly busted because of the lack of in-house care.
Commission Chairman Mark Bishop said $65,000 was spent from the sheriff’s budget on inmate health care in the first eight months of the fiscal year, most of it in the past four months. He said only $15,600 is left for the rest of the year.
But commissioners believe that with the new contract, they can come close to staying in the black this year.
Mr. Bishop said the contract is based on 150 inmates, plus 65 cents per day for each inmate above that number. He said the payments won’t be reduced if the jail houses fewer inmates.
Sheriff Davis said current population is 120 inmates.
The contract calls for 3 percent increases in subsequent years and also instructs Southern Health Partners to use a local pharmacy when possible.
A new jail was opened in Polk County last fall after the old jail was closed for safety reasons.
