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Westmoreland County Recoups Nearly $100,000 from Prison Health Care Provider
Posted 07-18-2005
Westmoreland County
has recouped $99,240 from NaphCare, Inc., the health care provider for
inmates at the County Prison.
"The prison is one area of
county government that is funded exclusively by county tax dollars. And,
with the rising costs of the criminal justice system, including housing and
caring for inmates, we have to make sure we are making the most of every
dollar to protect our taxpayers," said Tom Balya, Chairman of the Board of
County Commissioners. "Many mandated areas of criminal justice are beyond
our control. Health care is one area that we can directly control, and we
were selective in contracting with a provider and creative when formulating
a contract. "Credit
certainly also needs to be extended to NaphCare for providing cost-efficient
quality health care. We value this mutually beneficial relationship."
Westmoreland County entered into
an agreement with Birmingham, Alabama-based NaphCare in January 2003. The
contract pays NaphCare more than $1.1 million per year to provide
comprehensive health care services to the more 600 inmates who are housed at
the facility. A clause in the contract requires NaphCare to return any
unspent funds to the county. The $99,240 returned to the county is for
inmate health care services in 2004.
This is the second consecutive
year Westmoreland County has received money back per the contract. Last
year, $30,864 was returned to the county for medical services rendered in
2003. "We have been
pleased with our relationship with Westmoreland County and the county
prison," said NaphCare CEO James S. McLane. "The work of the NaphCare health
care staff in conjunction with Warden John Walton and the prison staff has
proven to provide quality health care at a reasonable cost. By 'sharing' the
financial risk for inmate health care, we have been able to maximize the
county's resources."
The money was presented to the commissioners at the July 14th Commissioners
Public Meeting at the County Courthouse and will be set aside to finance
operations at the prison.
For more information on the
Westmoreland County Prison, visit the county homepage at
www.co.westmoreland.pa.us (keyword: "prison"). |
