The Butler County Commissioners approved a multi-million dollar contract for healthcare services provided to inmates at the Butler County Prison.
The five-year, $6.3 million contract with Wexford Health Services will begin Feb. 1 and run through 2022. The board unanimously voted to approve the contract at their Wednesday meeting inside the Butler County Government Center.
Warden Joe DeMore said after going through an “extensive” negotiation process with several healthcare companies, Wexford Health offered the best services for the lowest cost. According to DeMore, the next least expensive contract offered was $650,000 more than what Wexford Health was offering. The next contract was $800,000 more.
The biggest change will be the implementation of an electronic medical records system. Currently, all inmate health records are still on paper. DeMore said Butler is one of the last county prisons in the region to convert to electronic records.
“This will be a big plus for us,” DeMore said.
The prison is staffed 24/7 with at least one medical personnel.
The county currently has a contract with Wexford that soon expires. At the beginning of negotiations, county officials initially thought they would look at other companies to provide health services.
“The original concept was to look elsewhere,” Commissioner Leslie Osche said.
But, officials say they realized Wexford Health could provide the most services for the lowest cost.
There have been some issues with Wexford Health in the past, specifically in the area of staffing, but the commissioners and DeMore say those have all been addressed.
“I’m confident in Wexford Health and their services,” DeMore said.
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