Concerns about medical care in Baton Rouge’s jail reached a boiling point in August 2015 when a group of nurses laid their grievances before the Metro Council, describing dire staffing shortages and inadequate mental health services that advocates blamed for an outsized inmate death rate.An independent consultant confirmed widespread problems and recommended doubling the parish’s annual corrections healthcare budget to about $10 million.But city officials chose a different route: privatizing medical services without a significant increase in cost. They contracted with CorrectHealth, one of several companies nationwide specializing in inmate healthcare — a burgeoning and profitable field that has grown in recent decades alongside the American prison population.Nevertheless, questions remain about whether that contract has resulted in measurable improvements. CorrectHealth representatives will deliver a presentation at Wednesday’s Metro Council meeting, touting a recently acquired national accreditation that indicates their care meets certain standardized benchmarks. The meeting provides a rare opportunity for public discussion on the issue, which has received little attention from elected officials since they negotiated the contract three years ago.Prisoner rights advocates are skeptical about CorrectHealth’s accomplishments at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in part because people are still dying there — at a rate more than double the… Read full this story
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