Jail opponents want new medical provider at the Allen County Jail

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — A new effort to remove the current medical provider at the Allen County Jail comes after Carmel-based Quality Correctional Care (QCC) asked for more than a 10% allocation for next year’s budget.

Opponents of the construction of a new jail asked the commissioners Friday at their weekly meeting to search for alternatives to QCC, which they find deficient in medical treatment and mental health care.

“We may be at some special crisis point, but we know that the complaints about inadequate medical care for inmates at the hospital have been going on for some time,” Christian Wolff, a member of Help Not Handcuffs, said after the meeting, predicting that there will be more legal actions against the county.

Tina Hughes, of the Allen County Residents Against the Jail, said a change was needed now.

“We have to do something before either a new jail is built or whatever is happening with the lawsuit,” referring to a federal lawsuit filed in January 2020 claiming inhumane jail conditions due to understaffing and overcrowded.

Federal judge Damon R. Leichty ruled in March 2022 that the current jail violates inmates’ constitutional rights, triggering plans to build a new $300 million jail on Meyer Road.

“We can’t wait three years. It would be good to have alternatives to evaluate the process and then seek out other people to bid on that contract,” Hughes said. “Obviously if we have more deaths, we’ll have more lawsuits. Sheriff (Troy) Hershberger is pleading for help.”

QCC, as it is known, has been the medical provider at the jail for several years after former sheriff David Gladieux and his staff looked for an alternative to providing medical treatment. At the time, Gladieux said the office found it difficult to hire nurses and doctors and it was outside the role of a sheriff’s office.

The 2024 contract for QCC was $3.1 million. This year, the sheriff’s office says it needs to boost that dollar amount by $400,000, but writes that it represents a 5% increase, when it’s more than 10%.

According to Wolff and Hughes, QCC is contracted to offer up to 40 hours of mental health counseling, but only provides one day, amounting to about eight hours.

This year, so far, there have been three suicides and one known suicide attempt, they said.

Commissioner Richard Beck said mental health is a societal issue and “this is where it ends up. In the jail.”

The new jail, now estimated to be completed in three years, will have a mental health wing, but right now those with grave mental issues “are in the general population.”

The commissioners rely on the departments to evaluate contracts; the role of the commissioners is to approve the final budget after it has gone through the rigors of the Allen County Council.

“We’re available to the sheriff,” Beck said. “I don’t know that there are many providers out there in this area. I know there’s a dire shortage of medical people. Whatever the sheriff needs to do, we would support him in that effort as he’s trying to resolve this problem.”

QCC president Lisa Scroggins responded to a request from WANE 15 for an updated list of Hoosier counties where QCC provides medical and mental health treatment, but that information wasn’t sent. According to the QCC website, the for-profit company provides medical and mental health treatment in 70 out of the Hoosier state’s 92 counties. WANE also asked for the pharmaceutical formulary.

Scroggins’ statement is as follows:

“QCC changes the lives of our patients by raising the bar for correctional health care. With a vision of a transformed correctional justice system, we empower our patients to re-enter society stronger and healthier than when they went in. We always treat every person we serve with respect and compassion.

It is our medical philosophy that each patient is entitled to individualized treatment plan. QCC does not restrict access to any medication and makes prescriptive decisions as clinically indicated. “

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