Inmate Medical Care Services

The Vendor is required to provide inmate medical care that complies with established standards; health services to be provided by licensed, certified trainer personnel to include a physician; health services delivered in a cost-effective manner with full reporting and accountability to the county.
- The responsibility of insuring that the elements contained within the specifications are sound, safety conscious, and functional.
- Staffing Requirements
• Provider shall only utilize the services of qualified, licensed, certified, and professionally trained healthcare staff.
• Provider shall be responsible for all costs associated with medical staff employed by or contracted with provider; these associated costs include all recruitment, advertisement costs, professional dues, health benefits, retirement, unemployment, worker’s compensation, uniforms, professional and/or malpractice insurance coverage, general liability insurance, legal representation, bookkeeping, payroll, or other human resource issues.
• Provider shall utilize a licensed physician as “medical director” who shall be the responsible medical authority for the jail.
• Provider shall provide a licensed physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner to conduct inmate sick call at the jail a minimum of once per week and be able to render general medical care similar to  hat available in the community; a licensed physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner must be “on call” to staff 24/7 for necessary medical situations.
• Provider shall have sufficient number of competent licensed practical nurses to provide adequate medical staff coverage as outlined in managing and staffing this nursing staff shall conduct sick call triage, dispense medications, conduct medical screenings for incoming arrestees and see any inmate who might need immediate medical attention.
• Provider shall provide a licensed physician, physician assistant, LPN, or other duly certified medical staff to conduct mental health evaluations as the circumstances at the jail require; this person must also be available for consultation and mental health emergencies 24/7.
• All scheduling of staff, sick call, etc.…will be mutually agreed to by the provider and the sheriff or his designee; any replacement of medical staff who are unavailable for work is the sole responsibility of the provider except for those county employees listed under special conditions below.
• Provider will ensure that each medical staff member is given an orientation and a written job description covering facility operations and a delineation of employee responsibilities.
• Medical provider staff shall be given access to inmate arrest files and are required to keep all information confidential and follow agency policies and procedures regarding those files.
• Intake medical screening for all arrestees coming into the jail facility which includes current medical conditions, need for immediate medical treatment, communicable diseases, verification of medication and mental health condition.
• medical staff will be required to determine if the inmate needs to be referred to a medical hospital because of life threatening injury or illness or in immediate need of emergency medical care; if it is determined that the person cannot be accepted and requires hospitalization, they will be required to immediately notify the booking supervisor on duty.
• General health appraisals are required for any inmate who remains in the custody of the jail more than 48 hours; this is a general medical and mental health analysis should be based on standards set out by the medical association of state and the national commission on correctional healthcare.
• Screenings and examinations of inmates with mental health issues and assessment and coordination of mental health medications and treatment.
• Triage of inmate healthcare complaints on a daily basis and referrals for follow-up care as required.
• Provide sick call on a daily basis as required.
• Provide medical and mental health services to inmate housing units for inmates who are sick and/or injured that cannot be moved to the medical department.
• Respond to medical or mental health emergencies as needed.
• Provide determination if dental complaint requires the services of a dentist.
• Provider shall be responsible for all necessary ancillary services to include x-rays, laboratory, dialysis, etc.…except as provided during in-patient hospital stays or by an outside specialist referred to by provider.
• Provider shall supply all medical supplies, office supplies and disposal of medical waste products that are utilized to provide medical and mental health services as required.
• Provider shall prescribe, order, evaluate, provide and dispense all pharmaceuticals to inmates in their housing units as required on a daily basis.
• Provider shall supply all necessary equipment, software, staffing, files, supplies, etc.…to create, manage and maintain an accurate medical file record for every inmate encountered by medical staff; this record shall be a managed record but shall be available to certain sheriff’s command personnel or county legal services as necessary within guidelines of state and federal law.
• Provider shall manage and provide close medical supervision of chronically ill inmates and those assigned to the jail’s infirmary housing area.
• Provider shall be responsible for coordinating all off-site healthcare services for inmates to include hospital services, specialty physician services, laboratory and other medical testing and diagnostics services, etc.…
• Provider shall be responsible for all costs associated with the provision of medical care or mental health care administered on-site; the only exceptions will include costs associated with inmate security, inmate transportation or office and infirmary space assigned to the provider by the sheriff.
• Provider must recruit, interview, hire, train and supervise all health care staff and consistently meet all conditions and specifications of this contract.
• Provider shall be responsible for collecting any medical care co-payment authorized by law from the inmate receiving the medical service and transfer these funds to the sheriff on at least a quarterly basis.
• Provider shall provide a monthly report to the sheriff’s designee outlining an analysis of the healthcare services provided during the previous month in a mutually agreed upon format.
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference Date: March 10, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: March 21, 2025