Prison operator claims bad rap

Monday, Aug. 2, 2004 | 10:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Leaders of Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison operator that built and has run the state women's prison in North Las Vegas since 1997, are complaining that the company has been the target of unjustified criticism for its treatment of female inmates.

John Tighe, vice president of health services for Corrections Corporation of America, says the company has lost $1 million a year, mainly from supplying quality health and mental health services to the more than 400 inmates at the Southern Nevada Women's Correction Facility.

Tighe and Corrections Corporation of America spokesman Steve Owens said last week that they wanted to correct the "inappropriate and misinformed allegations" against the company. They said the company deals humanely with the inmates and will continue to do so until the end of its contract on Oct. 1.

The state Department of Corrections will then take over operation of the prison.

Dr. Ted D'Amico, director of medical services for the state department, says the company focused on its profit margin and "the mental health and health care were not as good as we thought it should be."

Tighe disputes the charge, saying during the first quarter of this year, Corrections Corporation of America's medical department saw each of the 464 inmates on an average 19.2 times. It recorded more than 8,000 patient encounters in three months, "an extraordinarily high number."

This includes visits with doctors, nurses, mental health technicians or picking up prescription drugs. The average daily medical costs per inmate for the first six months of this year was $16.44.

The state pays Corrections Corporation of America $47.29 per day per inmate for care, housing and programming.

"What these facts reveal is that contrary to suggestions otherwise, inmates at SNWCF are not only receiving medical services -- they are receiving a lot of medical services," said Tighe.

He suggested that the state, when an inmate became ill at a conservation camp or other institution, sent her to the North Las Vegas prison, jacking up the cost to Corrections Corporation of America.

As an example, he said, one inmate last year was transferred out of North Las Vegas to a camp. In three months, she became ill, complaining of abdominal pains. She was sent to the hospital and after that returned to North Las Vegas. Corrections Corporation of America had to pick up the $92,000 hospital bill. The state didn't pay anything, Tighe said.

He said the state has sent a disproportionate number of inmates with extensive and often serious conditions to North Las Vegas. "The result of this trend has been that much of the rising medical cost at the facility has been unfairly passed on to CCA," he said.

D'Amico said that his staff would provide a "higher level of care" than Corrections Corporation of America. He said he was concerned about women with infectious diseases such as HIV and said he thinks his staff can provide better care for these 25 to 30 women.

His staff is more experienced at dealing with the medical problems than Corrections Corporation of America, he said.

The average inmate had two mental health visits for the first six months of this year. Tighe said a review of medical charges revealed all psychotropic prescriptions were appropriate and consistent with the diagnoses.

D'Amico said he's concerned that 200 of the more than 400 inmates are on mental health medication. "That's too high," he said. It's easier, he said, to put a person on drugs than to undertake appropriate treatment.

When he takes over, there will be a review of each inmate's chart to determine if these drugs are necessary.

Tighe says however many of the inmates are on these drugs when they are committed to prison. "We're damned if we do and we're damned if it don't," he said referring to any effort to take these drugs away from the women prisoners. He said the Corrections Corporation of America's doctors prescribe the adequate medicines.

CCA operates 65 correctional centers in 20 states with responsibility for more than 63,000 inmates.

Among those contracts is one that the company has to operate a women's prison in Florida. But the arrangement there is for the state to share some of the medical costs.

D'Amico noted, however, that when the original contract was signed in Nevada, Corrections Corporation of America was to cover all the medical bills.

He said the state does not have room at the northern Nevada prison hospital for all of the ill female prisoners.

When the company gave notice it would not renew its North Las Vegas contract, three other private companies submitted bids. But none of them offered to run the medical program.

The state then decided to take over the operation, at a cost of a $1 million a year.

Owens said the company is concerned that the unjustified criticism is reflecting on the "hard working and dedicated staff", many of them who have agreed to remain to the end to provide the appropriate treatment.

Tighe says, "We do not believe it is fair for state officials or the media to criticize the treatment of inmates that CCA is providing when the facts say otherwise."

The company says it tried to negotiate with the state to share some of the costs but the effort hit a roadblock. But, he said, the company is providing care at 'the highest possible level."