More Minnesota jails weigh dropping controversial medical provider

BRAINERD — 5 months after a state board suspended the license of a physician whose firm has been below scrutiny for its position within the deaths of individuals held in jail, a number of Minnesota counties have taken steps to discover a new jail medical supplier.

MEnD Correctional Care contracts with dozens of counties in Minnesota and different Midwestern states to supply well being look after individuals incarcerated in jails.

The Sartell, Minn. primarily based firm, nonetheless, has confronted allegations of failing to supply satisfactory care to inmates, together with 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell, who died in 2018 within the Beltrami County jail in Bemidji after his pleas for assist had been ignored by jail and medical workers.

A couple of dozen counties together with Anoka, Beltrami, Clay, Crow Wing, Clearwater, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Olmsted, St. Louis and Wright have modified suppliers or are exploring different choices.

Some cited points with MEnD’s companies should not having sufficient staffing. Others mentioned they switched as a result of they needed to supply expanded well being companies to individuals in jail.

Sherburne County leaders this week agreed to drop MEnD for a distinct firm.

The Minnesota Board of Medical Apply in January discovered that Dr. Todd Leonard, MEnD’s proprietor, demonstrated a willful or careless disregard for a affected person’s well being, welfare or security in Sherrell’s case.

MEnD declined a request for an interview. In an announcement despatched by his legal professional in January, Leonard mentioned he was “profoundly saddened and dissatisfied” by the board’s choice.

“This dying was a tragedy, however to my core I imagine our care was acceptable, particularly given the extremely uncommon nature of this affected person’s situation,” he said.

Leonard additionally mentioned the board’s choice is a judgment in opposition to him personally, not in opposition to MEnD or its staff.

In accordance with the state medical board’s findings, MEnD employed a brand new company medical director in early 2021, and Leonard’s position within the firm was restricted to president and CEO.

Practically a dozen Minnesota counties advised MPR Information they’re nonetheless contracting with MEnD, and do not have plans to modify.

“I don’t see us altering medical suppliers until another person is prepared to supply nearly as good of service for much less cash,” Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes mentioned in an April 14 e-mail to MPR Information.

In different counties, leaders weighing different choices cited dissatisfaction with MEnD’s companies or considerations over Leonard’s latest licensing troubles. Others mentioned they wish to increase or enhance well being look after individuals in jail.

The Sherburne County board of commissioners voted Tuesday to contract with Nashville-based Wellpath LLC for well being care companies for inmates and immigration detainees in its jail. Sheriff Joel Brott declined to be interviewed concerning the change.

Final yr, Sherburne County and MEnD agreed to pay $2.3 million to the household of James Lynas, who died by suicide in 2017 after spending 9 days within the Sherburne County Jail.

The lawsuit alleged that Lynas reported having suicidal ideas, however jail and MEnD workers didn’t promptly schedule him to see a psychological well being counselor or do thorough security checks whereas he was in his cell.

An legal professional with the legislation agency that represented the Lynas household mentioned it’s shocking that extra counties haven’t moved extra shortly to finish their contracts with MEnD within the wake of pricey authorized settlements.

“You pay for the care that you simply get,” mentioned Katie Bennett with the agency Robins Kaplan. “If it’s unhealthy care, you may pay out after, within the type of settlements or verdicts. Persevering with on, figuring out MEnD’s construction, is problematic, and it in all probability will probably be in the event that they stick with them.”

St. Louis County has contracted with MEnD since 2012, however just lately sought bids from different suppliers. Sheriff Ross Litman mentioned the county was pleased with MEnD’s companies, however the contract routinely renews yearly.

“I assumed it was actually prudent and affordable to place out simply to see what different companies and proposals is perhaps accessible,” Litman mentioned. The county is also trying to increase the hours that nursing and psychological well being care can be found, he mentioned.

Litman mentioned the county is contemplating three attainable suppliers – MEnD, St. Luke’s well being care system and Tennessee-based Superior Correctional Healthcare. A contract doubtless will probably be dropped at the board in August or September.

St. Louis County Commissioner Ashley Grimm has been pushing the board to think about ending its contract with MEnD.

Grimm needs to see the county contract with a nonprofit well being care supplier, akin to St. Luke’s, to look after individuals within the jail. She’s skeptical of the for-profit mannequin of well being look after individuals incarcerated in jail, who’ve statistically greater charges of medical points however the least quantity of voice.

“I really feel so strongly that we not solely must deal with each individual like they’ve human dignity, but in addition that now we have to be sure that we do not find yourself having individuals die below our care,” she mentioned.

Jamey Sharp labored for MEnD as a well being technician for about six months in 2020 within the St. Louis County jail, the place he was tasked with delivering drugs to inmates.

Sharp mentioned MEnD was rising quickly and increasing into different counties, however there was not sufficient workers to deal with all the issues that got here up within the St. Louis County jail.

“The preliminary factor that I believe was actually shocking was individuals’s considerations weren’t essentially taken as severely as they might have elsewhere I’ve labored,” mentioned Sharp, who’s co-chair of the legal justice committee on the Duluth department of the NAACP.

Inmates who complained of a medical drawback had been advised to fill out a kind, and usually didn’t get a response for 2 or three days, he mentioned.

Sharp mentioned he give up his job after studying concerning the wrongful dying lawsuit filed by the household of Hardel Sherrell in Beltrami County, frightened that one thing related may occur in St. Louis County.

“I noticed that the situations had been proper, the construction was the identical, that might create a case like that to get missed the place I used to be working,” he mentioned. “And I knew that I couldn’t reside with myself, if that occurred to any person below my care.”

Sharp additionally mentioned he sees issues with the for-profit mannequin for jail medical care.

“When you do not have individuals with the liberty to decide on, after which you could have corporations with incentives to develop as a substitute of present correct care, with out essentially correct laws (and) individuals keeping track of them, they’re behind locked doorways, it is a recipe for catastrophe,” he mentioned.

Different counties say they’d been contemplating on the lookout for a brand new supplier effectively earlier than Leonard’s license was suspended.

“To be sincere, it has been on our radar for some time,” mentioned Heath Fosteson, jail administrator for Crow Wing County, which has used MEnD for 11 years however is now searching for bids from different companies and just lately obtained a bid from Superior Correctional Healthcare.

Elements, together with considerations about MEnD’s staffing points, performed a task in searching for new bidders for the work, he added. “In fact, every little thing that is been performed out within the media can also be influencing choice making.”

Clearwater County switched from MEnD to Superior Correctional Healthcare beginning April. Sheriff Darin Halverson mentioned he couldn’t touch upon the particular causes apart from the county had some points with staffing ranges at MEnD.

“We would been speaking about it for some time and we simply lastly determined it was time to make a change,” he mentioned.

Morrison County additionally determined to modify from MEnD to Superior Correctional Healthcare, partially as a result of it had extra to supply for psychological well being companies, Sheriff Shawn Larsen advised MPR Information in an e-mail.

“Sadly each county offers with psychological well being and it is without doubt one of the largest points that we take care of in our jails throughout the nation,” Larsen wrote. “We felt Superior Correctional Healthcare was match for our facility.”

Earlier this yr, Wright County determined to modify from MEnD and contract with CentraCare, a nonprofit well being care supplier that operates St. Cloud Hospital and several other others in central Minnesota, starting Oct. 1.

CentraCare has a correctional well being division that serves different county jails, together with Stearns County in St. Cloud.

The county didn’t expertise any issues with MEnD however has been trying to present improved well being look after individuals whereas they’re in jail and persevering with on after they’re launched, mentioned Pat O’Malley, the county’s jail administrator.

As a big well being care system, CentraCare has sources {that a} non-public supplier doesn’t, together with a medication-assisted therapy program for opioid habit, O’Malley added.

“This is able to have been a deal that I might have regarded into, no matter MEnD’s state of affairs, just because it supplies the jail much more alternative,” O’Malley mentioned.

After listening to testimony final July on the circumstances surrounding Sherrell’s dying within the Beltrami County jail, Administrative Regulation Decide Ann O’Reilly concluded Leonard, MEnD’s proprietor, failed to satisfy minimal requirements of acceptable medical observe by not getting Sherrell to the hospital or having his workers assess him and get his important indicators within the days earlier than he died.

A medical expert decided that Sherrell died of pneumonia and mind swelling. A personal knowledgeable employed by Sherrell’s household decided he doubtless suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a uncommon autoimmune dysfunction that causes muscle weak point and typically paralysis.

“A tragedy like this could by no means have occurred,” O’Reilly wrote. “And it mustn’t ever be allowed to occur once more.”

The decide urged state authorities to scrutinize MEnD’s contracts with different Minnesota cities and counties.

After Sherrell’s dying, his mom, Del Shea Perry, began a nonprofit referred to as Be Their Voices to advocate for the well being and security of individuals in prisons and jails.

“These are any person’s little kids out right here, any person’s mother and father, and they’re human beings,” she mentioned. “They’ve a proper to obtain primary medical care.”

Final yr, the Minnesota Legislature handed the Hardel Sherrell Act, which established minimal requirements for medical care, psychological well being, suicide prevention and dying opinions in jails and prisons. Gov. Tim Walz signed the invoice into legislation in September.

Perry mentioned she’s involved that some counties don’t appear to pay attention to the legislation’s passage or what it requires of them.

“The Hardel Sherrell Act can’t simply be some phrases on a elaborate doc that imply completely nothing,” she mentioned. “It has to face for one thing.”