Weems Hospital may take over inmate medical services

                The Franklin County Commission said it will consider a plan to allow Weems Memorial Hospital to take over inmate medical services at the county jail.

The commission held a workshop with the hospital and the sheriff’s department earlier this month to discuss the plan and all three groups think it could save money.

The issue of inmate medical expenses is one the county commission and many local sheriffs have discussed in the past – it’s a difficult expense to budget for because the sheriff never knows in advance how much he’ll need.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Ginger Coulter told county commissioners that this has been an expensive year – so far the sheriff’s department has spent nearly 225 thousand dollars on inmate medical expenses, they only have about 100 thousand budgeted for the expense.

And the new budget year doesn’t begin until October.

Under a plan offered by Weems Memorial, however, the costs could drop substantially.

Weems said that by utilizing hospital services and personnel, they could bring the annual costs below 200 thousand dollars a year, possible even below 150 thousand dollars.

Weems said their plan could reduce costs and liability as well as increase claims made through Weems which would be a win/win for everyone.

Commissioners were concerned that if the expenses are higher than the hospital expects that the county will still have to cover the additional expense or the hospital will suffer.

County commissioners said they would like to see a more specific proposal before they sign off on the plan.

They asked that the hospital and sheriff’s office flesh out the plan over the next few weeks so it can be considered more closely during this summer’s budget negotiations.

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