MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Milwaukee County Board pushes hiring county workers instead of private company for jail inmate medical services

Don Behm
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee County Board on Thursday put up a unanimous front in support of hiring county employees instead of a private contractor to provide inmate medical services at the jail and House of Correction.  

The Milwaukee County Jail is located inside the county Criminal Justice Center (right).

Board approval of a proposal by Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. to study the feasibility of making the switch was a vote of no confidence in the current contractor to do the job.

Armor Correctional Health Services Inc. of Miami has come under fire in recent years for not complying with staffing requirements, poor care and falsifying inmate health care records.

Supervisor James Schmitt summed it up: "Hardly a stellar record."

The board's action requires the Sheriff's Office, House of Correction, corporation counsel, comptroller's office and administrative services to complete the feasibility study by late January and recommend whether the county should make the switch.

"If the data shows we can't do it, we're not going to force something," Schmitt said.

Now is an appropriate time to consider returning the work in-house since a new sheriff, Earnell Lucas, would be taking office in January, he said.

RELATED:Milwaukee County Board leaders push hiring of county workers to take over troubled jail inmate medical services

"Caring for those who are in custody is a core function and a tremendous responsibility," Lipscomb said in a statement following the board vote. "As public servants, Milwaukee County employees are committed to providing the high quality services that taxpayers expect."

Lipscomb, Schmitt and other supervisors expressed confidence the county could do a better job this time around than it had in the past.

Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr.

In 2013, at the time former Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. was in the office, a Milwaukee County judge ordered the county to bring in Armor Correctional under an emergency contract to fix problems with medical and mental health care provided by the county. Those problems included staffing shortages and poor record keeping.

Staff shortages have persisted since that time under Armor.

Armor's current contract ends Dec. 31. County administration officials have delayed awarding the next inmate medical services contract as they review proposals from Armor and other companies.

The county has an agreement with Armor to extend the contract for three months, to March 31 of next year, to provide time to decide on the next vendor or the hiring of county employees.

Armor will be paid up to $5.7 million for the three months, or 32% of the total $17.6 million included in the 2019 budget for inmate medical services. The current contract paid the company $16.5 million this year.

RELATED:Milwaukee County Jail's health care contractor charged with falsifying inmate records

RELATED:Auditors confirm company did not comply with medical services contract at Milwaukee County Jail, House of Correction

County auditors in August of this year reported that the company failed to meet contract staffing requirements at the jail and House of Correction during the time — November 2015 to August 2017 — that several people died while in custody at the jail.

In February of this year, 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.

In the fall of 2016, the court-ordered monitor of the Milwaukee County Jail found the deaths of three inmates came after mistakes in medical care or potentially poor monitoring of vulnerable inmates.