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| Passaic County contracts out medical services |
| By RICHARD COWEN , The Record STAFF WRITER, northjersey.com |
| Published: 05/11/2011 |
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After years of mounting lawsuits brought by inmates and their families, Passaic County has moved to privatize health services at the county jail and to sever ties with the jail’s medical director, Dr. Magdy Wahba. Dr. Magdy Wahba's time spent as medical director at the jail has been marked by lawsuits from inmates over allegations of poor medical care and two recent wrongful-death suits by the families of inmates who died behind bars. Dr. Magdy Wahba's time spent as medical director at the jail has been marked by lawsuits from inmates over allegations of poor medical care and two recent wrongful-death suits by the families of inmates who died behind bars. The Passaic County Freeholders have signed a three-year, $8-million contract with Correctional Health Services LLC of Verona to take over medical care at the county jail beginning on May 20. On Tuesday, the county also sealed a one-year, $700,000 deal with East Orange General Hospital to provide non-emergency services to inmates. The switch to a private firm is designed to reduce costs and to shield Passaic County from future lawsuits over the quality of health care offered to inmates. It also allows the county to shed Wahba, its highest-paid employee ($271,560 in 2010), whose tenure at medical director has been tumultuous. Wahba, 60, who also is a staff physician at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, has been working for Passaic County since 1993. His time spent as medical director at the jail has been marked by lawsuits from inmates over allegations of poor medical care and two recent wrongful-death suits by the families of inmates who died behind bars. He is also one of six North Jersey physicians recently named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in March by Aetna Inc. In the lawsuit, Aetna claims that Wahba overbilled the insurance company more than $4.1 million between Jan. 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Aetna claims that Wahba threatened to sue his patients if the insurance company did not pay the charges in full. Wahba did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday for comment. Freeholder Pat Lepore said the switch to a private firm will shift the costs and liability of providing jailhouse medical services to CHS. Fast facts Correctional Health Services LLC started in 1989 and was the state's first private company to offer medical care in jail. CHS has contracts with jails all over the state, including the Bergen County Jail and the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of litigation that comes with running the jail,” Lepore said, adding that the county wants to reduce its exposure to lawsuits. The two wrongful-death suits are pending in U.S. District Court. Both carry the risk that the county, which is self-insured and pays all claims with taxpayer dollars, could face millions of dollars in liability. In one lawsuit, the family of 18-year-old Jesse M. Rivera claims that the Clifton man was taken brought to the jail in October 2009 and placed on suicide watch. He hung himself only days after he was taken out of the suicide unit and returned to the regular inmate population. In another lawsuit, the family of Ramon Aponte, 50, of Paterson is seeking damages after he was beaten to death by another inmate, Samuel Ramos, in 2007. Aponte had been confined to a special suicide watch unit when Ramos was brought into the cell with him. Correctional Health Services LLC is due to take over on May 20 and will bring its own staff, replacing the county nurses and physicians who had provided in-house evaluations and treatment. Some positions will be eliminated and other personnel will be absorbed into other medical posts. Pharmaceuticals services are to be delivered under a separate contract with another firm, said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the county Sheriff’s Department. St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson still will provide emergency services, but other treatments that require a hospital visit — for cardiology, urology, podiatry, and other services — will be provided by East Orange General Hospital. County sheriff’s officers will be responsible for transporting inmates, but will no longer have to stay at the hospital round-the-clock — and often on overtime — while an inmate is being hospitalized. That’s because East Orange General has a special inmate lockup in which a prisoner can get hospital treatment and still remain behind bars. County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said the move toward privatization is part of his effort to reduce spending in the department. “The newest changes to jail healthcare services will save money through increased efficiencies, shared services and stronger legal protection against costly lawsuits,” Berdnik said. The final move toward privatization comes only two days after the latest inmate death at the jail. On Sunday, inmate Michael Wilkerson, 23, of Wayne, died while playing basketball on the roof of the jail. Wilkerson suffered an apparent seizure and was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. Click here to read more: |
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