COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A proposal was brought to Branch County Commissioners by Jail Captain Fred Blankenship on Thursday that would contract out medical service to a private company and change the vendor for prisoner mental health services.
An annual cost quote of $72,000 has been provided by Advanced Directional Healthcare which according to the company web site provides medical services to over 30,000 inmates in 17 states.
Blankenship says the cost would depend on average daily population. He added Advanced Directional Healthcare will take over for the jail nurse when she retires in 2018.
Blankenship says this will save the county some about $27,000 when compared to what was spent in 2015.
As for mental health services, Blankenship says they will switch from Pines Behavior Health Services to Psychological Assessment and Counseling Specialists of South Central Michigan which has an office in Coldwater sometime in October at a fee of $350 per month. In exchange, they will see up to five people.
He said they still had money in this years budget to cover the switch but they may have to ask for a bit more next year.
