Hospital wants out of non-emergency N.C. inmate care

RALEIGH, N.C. 

A North Carolina hospital plans to quit providing non-emergency care for state prison inmates because of the cost and hassle of dealing with those patients, The News and Observer of Raleigh reported Saturday.

WakeMed notified the state Correction Department earlier this month that it will stop treatment Oct. 1, leaving the state little time to find alternatives.

"It creates some major challenges for us," agency spokeswoman Pamela Walker said. "They wanted some equity in the Triangle. We certainly understand that. But we have to do everything in our power to provide inmates with care."

Walker says the agency is negotiating with the University of North Carolina Health Care System about providing more inmate care.

Some inmates are expected to begin receiving treatment next year at facilities being built in Raleigh, including a $154 million facility at Central Prison and a $48 million facility at the Correctional Institution for Women.

WakeMed officials have complained that fees paid by the state don't cover the medical center's costs. The hospital also lobbied for and won a law change that requires the Correction Department to place no more than 5 percent of all sick prisoners to a single hospital.

"We will do our fair share, but we don't want to be the default hospital," WakeMed chief executive Bill Atkinson said. "We didn't ask for that. So we went to the hospital association and the legislators and got engaged."

During the fiscal year that ended June 30, WakeMed treated 1,197 inmates, or about 17 percent of the nearly 6,900 inmates statewide that required hospital care during that period, according to the Correction Department.

The hospital pointed out in its letter to agency chief Alvin Keller Jr. that during the same period Duke Health Raleigh treated 106 and Rex Healthcare treated three.

Statewide, UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill handled the biggest share of prisoner care, treating 1,595 inmates or about 22 percent.

WakeMed will continue to provide emergency care for inmates, which hospital officials say should meet the 5 percent threshold for treatment now required by state law.

WakeMed spokeswoman Debra Laughery said the decision has nothing to do with a state audit released Tuesday showing that North Carolina loses millions of dollars by not requiring hospitals to bill Medicaid for the treatment of prisoners eligible for the federal health insurance program for the poor.

The decision to limit inmate care is part of a broader strategy to reduce costs and could include staff reductions and the elimination of other services.

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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com