Bradley County gets break on inmate health care costs

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- SkyRidge Medical Center is cutting the cost to taxpayers for jail inmates who are hospitalized.

The hospital is raising its discount to Bradley County from 50 percent to 60 percent, SkyRidge CEO Coleman Foss and Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis told county commissioners last week.

Mr. Davis said the extra 10 percent "represents a significant reduction in the financial burden upon county taxpayers who, by law, must shoulder the responsibility to pay for medical care for jail inmates.''

The savings could be tens of thousands of dollars a year, he said.

Mr. Davis and Mr. Foss worked with Sheriff Tim Gobble, Emergency Medical Services Director Danny Lawson, County Attorney Joe Byrd and hospital administrators to negotiate a new agreement.

Medical and dental costs for inmates spiked in the fiscal year ending June 30, county officials say. The sheriff's department paid out more than $573,000 and almost 24 percent of that went to SkyRidge for emergency room care and other services.

The agreement with the hospital came the same week Bradley County commissioners hired a new provider for medical care to inmates in the county jail.

The one-year contract with Alabama-based Quality Correctional Health Care Inc. starts July 1. The county will pay QCHC $631,186.

During discussions on inmate medical care, county officials have said there is no way to predict costs for hospital care for inmates during the year.

Commissioner Howard Thompson, chairman of the Law Enforcement Committee, said the new contract allows a medical professional to make the call 24/7 on whether an inmate needs to go to the hospital.