近距离内射合集

A single provider contract. In-house medical services. A combination of both.

Those are some of the options on the table as Bernalillo County tries to chart a new path to provide healthcare at the state鈥檚 largest jail after the University of New Mexico Hospital decided not to renew its contract.

And time is of the essence.

In October, service model options will be offered to the Bernalillo County Commission, which will vote on which one is chosen for the July 2027 transition.

To help the effort, County Manager Cindy Chavez said they have hired the Texas-based consulting firm, J. Allen and Associates - Correctional Healthcare Management LLC. Chavez did not disclose how much the consultants are being paid, saying it's still being finalized.

The clock started ticking July 16, when UNMH 鈥済ave a one-year notice to conclude medical, dental and behavioral health services鈥� at the Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the county.

During the last County Commission meeting, Chavez said commissioners had already signaled to her that they would say 鈥渘o鈥� to contracting out medical services, which went awry with past for-profit providers. UNMH came on board in July 2023, as the facility grappled with rising inmate deaths and substandard care while providers Centurion and Corizon bowed out.

Since 2020, 49 people have died at the jail or died after falling ill at the jail. Of those, 24 deaths occurred after UNMH took over. Advocates pointed to improvements after UNMH came in, such as getting more inmates on medically assisted detox, but federal audits found UNMH was not adhering to constitutional healthcare standards outlined in a 2017 settlement agreement.

鈥淲e have a really talented group of people who are providing services today 鈥� everybody in the organization is pulling together because we know how important this is, and there's a lot of momentum and I would actually say optimism for the future,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淲e understand that we have an obligation to provide the highest quality service for anybody who's in our custodial care. We understand that, we're taking it very seriously.鈥�

Aside from the service model options, Chavez said there are some big decisions to be made 鈥渟ooner than later,鈥� including choosing an electronic health record system, which currently belongs to UNM.

She said they are aiming to apply for Medicaid coverage for inmates 鈥� to offset costs 鈥� and have to decide how to manage that, either internally or through a third-party. And, in order to be able to apply for Medicaid, MDC has to have a pharmacy 鈥渦p and running鈥� first.

For a time leading to the transition, she said, MDC may have two pharmacies in the facility, including UNMH, as the new pharmacy gets Drug Enforcement Administration licensure.

鈥淭here are lots of these types of questions that we need to be able to answer in pretty short order,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淏ecause either we need to find a contract partner or we need to build that capacity.鈥�

Prior to presenting service model options to the commission, she said they will present options to the Detention Facility Advisory Board, Addiction Treatment Advisory Board and Behavioral Health Advisory Board, where the public can hear options and have input.

When the news broke that UNMH would no longer be the medical provider at MDC, it was announced as a mutual decision. In the last commission meeting, Chavez told commissioners they learned of UNM鈥檚 decision in late June.

Chavez said UNMH came to the county 鈥渂ecause they had an interest in ending the contract.鈥�

鈥淎nd we were supportive of that because, candidly, they jumped in when no one else would, and I really want to say this, that we are so grateful to them,鈥� she said. 鈥淧roviding services in a jail is incredibly difficult and we want to both thank them and support their transition out 鈥� this is a really important partnership between the county and the university 鈥� and I have truly nothing but gratitude and respect for UNMH, and want to continue that partnership to whatever extent is appropriate in the future.鈥�