Luzerne County could retain the current health care provider in its prison, despite looking for other options.
County councilmembers agreed earlier this year to initiate a request for proposal for “inmate health care services” at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, a decision stemming from dissatisfaction with current provider Wellpath, formerly Correct Care Solutions. Council discussed the results at Tuesday night’s council work session with a prison administrator.
“There’s one bidder that put a proposal in,” said Jim Wilbur, prison warden and division head of corrections for Luzerne County. “That was Wellpath.” Wellpath quoted Luzerne County at $14.2 million for prison health care over the next three years- $4,540,383 in 2024; $4,744,000 in 2025; and $4,958,211 in 2026. The Tennessee-based company also contracts with the Lackawanna County Prison and the state’s correctional facilities.
Wilbur said representatives from six potential providers attended a pre-bid discussion online on July 24. Then on Aug. 10, four providers took a mandatory walkthrough of the prison and the minimal offender unit. Due to the age of the prison, “we wanted to make sure any vendors … understood what the structures look like,” Wilbur said. In a later email, he declined to share the companies’ names, as the county doesn’t yet have a signed contract for services.
Council expressed disappointment with Wellpath in meetings this spring, choosing a short-term contract extension with the company before issuing the request for proposal. Councilmember Brian Thornton cited lawsuits that named both the county and the health care provider.
“There’s a lot of bad things that have happened in that prison to inmates, which partially falls under their responsibility,” Thornton said in April.
In one case, a woman died by suicide in the prison in 2018, and her family alleged that inadequate care and opioid withdrawal led to her death. Council voted to settle that suit in March for $780,000. Administrators said a pilot program began in February for medication-assisted treatment for people with substance use disorders.
Three deaths by suicide at the prison in 2021 garnered another lawsuit. Wilkes-Barre law firm, Dyller and Solomon is representing the families of the deceased.
