Auditors confirm company did not comply with medical services contract at Milwaukee County Jail, House of Correction
The private company responsible for medical services at the Milwaukee County Jail and House of Correction failed to meet contract staffing requirements during the time that several people died while in custody at the jail, county auditors said Monday in a report.
Armor Correctional Health Services Inc., the Miami-based company hired by the county, provided an average of 89% of its staffing requirements from November 2015 to August 2017, according to county audit director Jennifer Folliard.
The company only achieved that level of service by relying on employees brought in from outside employment agencies, the report says.
Staffing levels for several key jobs fell below the overall average, with only 83% of registered nurse hours and 85% of mental health staff hours covered, according to the report.
Folliard recommends the House of Correction hire a contract manager with clinical expertise to ensure compliance with staffing requirements.
In February, Armor was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with falsifying health care records of inmates at the jail, including Terrill Thomas, who died of dehydration while in custody in April 2016.
Armor employees allegedly "engaged in a pattern and practice of intentionally falsifying entries in inmate patient health care records," a criminal complaint says.
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Thomas, a 38-year-old inmate with bipolar disorder, went seven days without water in solitary confinement before his death. One Armor employee recorded checking Thomas twice on April 21, a few days before his death, but investigators said a review of surveillance video footage showed no one had any physical contact with the inmate in that time period.
Armor has provided inmate medical services in the two jails since May 2013 under a contract managed by the House of Correction. The contract paid Armor $16 million in 2017, about 19.7% of the total $80.9 million cost of operating the two facilities.
Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. requested the audit in November 2016 after a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article detailed Armor's staffing and performance issues in 2016 when Thomas and three others died at the jail.
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Armor representatives did not respond to the Audit Services Division's request for comment on the audit findings, Folliard said in correspondence to Lipscomb.
On Monday, Armor defended its track record on staffing in recent months at the jail and House of Correction.
"Our payroll records indicate that we ran 104.4% of contracted staffing in May and 111.84% in June" of this year, the company said in a statement released to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We are expecting a similar result for July."
The contract with Armor allows the county to withhold a portion of its monthly payment to the company for each month that staffing falls below 95%. The county withheld more than $1.6 million during the 22-month period of the audit, according to the report.
No funds were withheld from the company's monthly payments for May and June of this year, Armor's statement said.
Auditors reviewed records through August 2017, the month that former Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. resigned. Richard Schmidt, the former senior commander, became acting sheriff at that time.
Schmidt subsequently moved several top commanders from law enforcement duties to the jail to provide more supervision in the wake of custody deaths. Three of those officers are wellness monitors, assigned to make daily one-on-one contact with inmates in the mental health, medical and discipline units.
Armor's failure to meet its required staffing levels also were documented in a May 2016 report by Ronald Shansky, an outside medical doctor. Shansky monitors crowding and medical services at the jail and House of Correction under terms of a 2001 legal settlement between the county and inmates.
"The audit confirms what many already suspected — some of the most serious staffing issues that originally led the court to order this contract still persist," Lipscomb said Monday. Lipscomb has asked two County Board committees — Finance and Audit, and Judiciary, Safety and General Services — to review the audit's findings and recommendations.
Armor's current contract ends Dec. 31 of this year.
County officials have requested proposals from private companies for the next medical and mental health services contract at the two jails. The deadline for responding is Sept. 7.
A contract is expected to be awarded by the end of this year. Armor plans to compete for the job.
"We look forward to bidding on the request for proposals and hope to continue our partnership with the county in the provision of quality patient care," the company's statement said.
