Silverdale Detention Center fails kitchen health inspection, passes follow-up review

Five days after Hamilton County's Silverdale Detention Center failed a health inspection, a follow-up inspection report filed May 19 increased its grade by 27 points.

In the May 13 report by the Tennessee Department of Health, Silverdale scored 62 out of 100.

The manager in charge of the kitchen was unaware of multiple safety risk factors that earned the jail the failing score, according to the original report. The inspection came after Silverdale Detention Center food vendor Aramark Corp. was the subject of a complaint to the state about kitchen conditions.

"Nothing is more important to Aramark than food safety," Aramark District Manager Wes Landers said Thursday in a news release. "We are taking immediate measures to correct these issues and are committed to providing continued training for staff and building a positive, safe and healthy dining environment for the Silverdale Detention Center."

The failed health inspection came amid a period of heavy public criticism of the sheriff's office and its handling of the jail. Late last month, Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston said he would request a U.S. Department of Justice probe into incidents of use of force by the Sheriff's Office and its operation of Silverdale, where inmates have reported multiple rapes recently and other acts of violence against them by fellow inmates.

"Right now, it appears that Silverdale is one of the most dangerous places to be in our county, and that is unacceptable," Pinkston said in a news release, before referring the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokesman J. Matt Lea said Thursday that while the health score was disappointing, the office was already taking steps to improve kitchen safety conditions. The kitchen will remain open as managers work on improving the conditions.

Those improvements resulted in the facility's score being increased to passing upon reinspection less than a week later.

"Health department conducted a re-inspection of the kitchen facilities at the Silverdale Detention Center," J. Matt Lea, spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, said in a news release. "Upon completion, the facility received a passing score of 89 after several operational improvements were made and issues were resolved."

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In an action plan included in a news release, Aramark said it will provide further training to kitchen staff.

According to the original report, areas in need of improvement were the cleanliness of the kitchen floors and food preparation areas, including a lack of proper sanitizer buckets.

"Manager was not aware of the symptoms or illnesses to restrict employees from working - no knowledge of an illness policy," the report said. "Food workers not washing hands before beginning food preparation. No handwashing observed of staff during the inspection."

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The report said paper towels were not available and large containers of food that were prepared in the morning were left out. Meanwhile, multiple food items that had been previously prepared were not dated.

The report also said that rodent droppings were found in storage rooms and kitchen shelves were dirty.

Based on the results of the inspection, the facility was required to correct all issues designated as priority items, which were those most closely linked to foodborne illness, Tennessee Department of Health Associate Director of Communications and Media Relations Bill Christian said in an email to the Times Free Press.

"When those corrections are verified upon a follow-up inspection, those points will be added back to the score according to program standards," he said.

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The Sheriff's Office also will begin working on repairing structural and cosmetic issues also noted in the complaint, Sheriff Jim Hammond said.

"While Silverdale's recent health report is disappointing, I am confident Aramark Corp. is taking this incident very seriously and their management has indicated to me that this is in no way acceptable for their company nor is it conducive to their standards of operations," he said in a news release. "The HCSO is committed to excellence and we will continue to work with Aramark to ensure the inmates in our custody receive the best quality services possible that meet or exceed Tennessee Corrections Institute and health department standards."

The sheriff's office is also currently amid a push to make $6.3 million in upgrades to the facility's security system. Hamilton County commissioners voted unanimously in mid-March to fund the upgrades after Sheriff's Office officials informed them of outdated and inadequate cameras and other security equipment. Officials learned of the security issues after assuming control of the jail from private operator CoreCivic, which ended its management of the facility at the end of 2020 in a dispute over fees.

Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.

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