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Gwinnett Sheriff Weighs Firing Jail's Medical Provider

Posted on: Friday, 20 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By John Ghirardini, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jan. 20--Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway is trying to decide whether to fire the county jail's medical provider.

The sheriff could decide to opt out of the county's $4.8 million annual contract with Prison Health Services.

The company's performance was called into question in a scathing internal report on the 2005 death of a detainee.

Harriet Washington, 43, who had been in the jail since June on a cocaine possession charge, died early on Oct. 17. She suffered from leukemia.

The report states that jail deputies and Washington's cellmates urged that she be taken to a hospital, but that their pleas were ignored by employees of the Tennessee-based health provider.

A letter from Washington's cellmates to Conway alleged that multiple requests Washington be treated were ignored in the two days before her death.

Washington had not seen an outside doctor since July, according to jail records.

"Either party can opt out of the contract" with at least 10 days' notice, Conway said Thursday.

The contract states that any violation of its provisions or stipulations is grounds for termination.

Conway said he believes it would be possible to switch providers with a minimum of disruption, if that's what he decides to do.

The report particularly questions the actions of Brian Woodard, a licensed practical nurse for Prison Health Services who treated Washington over a two-day span that ended with her death.

Woodard could not be reached for comment Thursday.

He has been a licensed practical nurse since at least 1994, according to state professional license information.

Woodard resigned a week after Washington's death as a result of a separate, unrelated internal investigation into narcotics missing from the medical unit, the report says.

Conway said that case will also weigh into his decision on whether to keep Prison Health Services until its contract is up in September.

"I'm looking at the overall quality we're receiving from them," he said.

"At this point I don't have reason to believe it's not an isolated incident involving a bad employee."

Prison Health Services, one of the nation's top three private providers, serves 214,000 inmates in 310 facilities in 37 states, according to the company Web site.

PHS reportedly handles eight Georgia institutions.

Except for a three-year gap when another firm was in place, PHS has handled Gwinnett's inmate medical needs since 1991.

But the Brentwood, Tenn.-based company has had its share of problems.

A New York Times investigation last year found that substandard care contributed to at least 15 inmate deaths in 11 Florida jails over a 13-year span.

Nationwide, PHS is facing about 1,100 lawsuits, according to published reports.

The company is already named in at least two federal court suits filed after Gwinnett inmates died in custody.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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