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Polk
County Jail
Des Moines
Correctional Medical Services
November 24, 2006 Des Moines Register
Polk County supervisors, concerned that a privately run jail medical clinic
hasn't pinched pennies enough, have launched a search for someone to keep an eye
on how it is operated. Supervisors voted unanimously this week to hire a new
"health services administrator" to oversee the county's contract with
Correctional Medical Services Inc., a St. Louis company. The job, intended to be
filled by a registered nurse with managerial experience, will pay between
$62,012 and $81,744 a year. County Administrator Michael Freilinger said the new
employee will be expected to wrestle with the ever-expanding cost of medical
care for more than 500 prisoners and help plan for the 2008 opening of a new
1,549-bed jail. Polk County authorities have watched inmate medical costs
increase from $1.4 million in the budget year that ended in June 2003 to roughly
$2.4 million projected for 2006-07. County officials say Correctional Medical
has blamed much of the increase on drug costs. Correctional Medical, one of only
a handful of private companies that run jail clinics, has managed medicine in
the Polk County Jail since 1998. The company has faced several inmate lawsuits
in recent years, mostly based on allegations of delayed care or the use of
substitution drugs in a bid to contain costs.
June 9, 2005 Des Moines Register
The Polk County Board of Supervisors will pay $35,000 to
settle a lawsuit filed by relatives of a man who died in the county jail after
his arrest for reckless driving. Mark Girres, a 58-year-old diabetic, died in
2003. His daughters sued, alleging that sheriff's deputies and medical staffers
from Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis ignored warnings about Girres'
health and put off care. During the past decade, more than a dozen inmates or
their families have alleged that officials delayed or denied treatment. Among
them were two cases that the county also settled out of court: an HIV-positive
man charged with driving drunk who spent 11 days in a coma after he said jail
medical workers delayed treating his low blood pressure, and another inmate who
said she suffered permanent tendon damage after she had to wait days for
treatment of a knife wound to her hand. Girres, a retired tree-trimmer for the
city of Des Moines, was arrested Sept. 19, 2003, after his car collided with a
light pole, a parked vehicle and a fence at an Ingersoll Avenue gas station.
Girres' daughters said the collisions were a sign he needed medical attention.
Girres was booked Sept. 20. A guard noticed Girres seemed ill and recommended he
be closely watched. The lawsuit alleged that Girres was moved but not treated.
He died Sept. 22 at a hospital.
May 5, 2005 Des Moines Register
Polk County taxpayers will pay 20 percent more to
provide medical services for the nearly 17,000 people that law enforcement
officials expect to lock up next year. The county, which on average has reported
a more than 5 percent annual inmate increase over the past decade, will pay $1.8
million for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, dental care and
mental health in the budget year that starts in July. That's $300,000 more than
this year. For the seventh consecutive year, the county Board of Supervisors
will hire Correctional Medical Services, a St. Louis company, to administer the
jail health program. Supervisors have praised the company for consistent and
quality care during the years. But both the company and the jail have been
criticized by inmates and their families. After the 2003 death of Mark Girres,
58, an imprisoned Des Moines diabetic, his survivors alleged that jail officials
knew about his illness but did not fully evaluate his health or give him needed
care. Jail officials denied wrongdoing, and Iowa's ombudsman's office
investigated that and other complaints but ruled that jail officials have made
substantial improvements that will prevent future problems. Tracie Botts of Des
Moines, who spent six months in jail last year on drug charges, offers a mixed
assessment. She claims a fellow inmate endured constant pain from a stomach
ulcer and was denied medication for months. At the same time, however, Botts
said she was able to kick her addiction to crack cocaine thanks to treatment
provided by the jail. "That other girl, she had this bleeding ulcer and was
more or less ignored," Botts said. "I got the treatment I needed, and
it worked for me. I'm a year clean and counting."
October 7, 2004 Des
Moines Register
A Des Moines woman contends that Polk County Jail
officials haven't kept a promise to make "substantial and meaningful"
changes to medical policies she blames for her incarcerated son's suicide
attempt last year. Audrey Rivas said a letter from the state ombudsman's office
confirmed that jail officials acknowledged at least some mistakes prior to
Robert Rivas' attempted Tylenol overdose. The admission came three months after
the 2003 death of an imprisoned Des Moines diabetic, Mark Girres, 58, who
allegedly was denied medical attention following his September 2003 arrest for
reckless driving. A Polk County lawsuit claims jail officials did not evaluate
Girres' health despite repeated warnings about his illness and erratic behavior
before his death. Rivas said the two cases demonstrated a pattern of poor
medical care at the jail. The ombudsman also faulted Correctional Medical
Services, the jail's privately run medical clinic, for failing to adequately
assess Rivas' need for a prescribed antidepressant, which the clinic had refused
to provide. The
lawsuit, filed by Girres' two daughters, accuses deputies and Correctional
Medical of negligence.
September 29,
2004 Des Moines Register
Relatives of a 58-year-old diabetic arrested for reckless driving last
year have sued Polk County Jail officials, alleging that deputies and a private
medical company were negligent for allowing the man's illness to go untreated
until he died. A spokeswoman for St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services said patient confidentiality rules forbid any
comment on Girres' case. She stressed that medical staffers "work very hard
every day to meet the medical needs of inmate patients in Polk County."
Court papers state Girres, who originally was booked into the Des Moines City
Jail, was transferred to Polk County's custody about 1 p.m. last Sept. 20. A
questionnaire filled out then shows Girres told jailers that he suffered from
both diabetes and liver cancer but that no medications were required. Jailhouse
reports state Girres was refusing food by the evening of Sept. 20 and "does
not appear to be in good health." That night,
according to the lawsuit, Girres was transferred into administrative segregation
because he was "seemingly disoriented" and "acting and talking
too crazy" to remain in a regular cell. "The family has reviewed all
records pertaining to his incarceration," Girres' daughters said. "We
are deeply saddened by the withholding of medical attention in spite of 12
separate documented instances in which medical attention was clearly
warranted." By Sept. 21, Girres was talking to himself, defecating on
himself, "bleeding from open wounds" to his arms and
"incoherent," according to the lawsuit. A 2002
Des Moines Register article described more than a dozen allegations that
Correctional Medical officials delayed or denied treatment to Polk County
inmates during the company's first four years controlling a jailhouse medical
clinic.
Pottawattamie
County Jail
Pottawattamie, Iowa
Correctional Medical Services
December 20, 2005 The Daily Nonpareil
Pottawattamie County spends more than $650,000 a year on health care for inmates
at the county jail, but a new way to save money might become a reality early
next year. "It's one of the most substantial costs for the jail," said
Supervisor Loren Knauss. "We are forced by federal and state laws to spend
more on medical care for inmates than what we do for our veterans." The
county has been paying a private firm, CMS, $55,000 a month or $660,000 a year
to oversee health care needs for the county's prisoners. The firm, however,
announced Monday it plans to cease its operations in February to concentrate on
larger state and federal prisons. The Board of Supervisors gave permission to
Sheriff Jeff Danker and others at the jail who oversee the inmates' health needs
to look into the possibility of the county taking over the operation to save
money. "It could be a bunch of savings," Supervisor Delbert King said.
Under one possible alternative, the county would hire the three nurses and the
administrator currently there as county employees and contract with a local
doctor when needed. Inquiries will also be made to see if it's cheaper for the
county to purchase prescription drugs locally. CMS, a national company, has its
own drug buying policy. The staff provides 16 hours of health care daily for the
more than 250 inmates currently housed in the jail. Knauss said this new
procedure might save as much as $100,000 a year. "It's a big help to the
taxpayers," King added.
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