The Virginia Beach Correctional Center has a new medical and mental health care provider.
The sheriff’s office awarded Richmond-based MEDIKO Inc., a contract earlier this summer paying $6.42 million a year.
On Aug. 1, the company began offering medical, mental health, dental services and more to the jail’s more than 1,000 inmates.
MEDIKO is owned and operated by physicians. In a statement, the company said “it plans to improve substance abuse and mental health treatment at the jail, critical areas that have a heightened focus throughout the community.” It also plans to help inmates booked into the jail enroll in Medicaid.
“This will ease the burden on taxpayers of paying for inmate hospitalizations and ensure inmates have Medicaid coverage for medical needs after they are released from jail,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
NaphCare Inc. of Birmingham, Alabama, provided medical services at the jail from 2015 to July 31. The company bid for a new contract, but was not selected to continue on as the jail’s provider after its $5.9 million annual contract expired, the sheriff’s office said.
The city’s procurement office received five bids. A contract was awarded after an evaluation committee rated the proposals “based on their experience, capability, services to be provided and price,” the office said.
In a statement, Sheriff Ken Stolle thanked NaphCare for providing “exceptional medical care” at the jail the past five years.”
But, he added, he is always looking to provide the best taxpayer value and quality of care for the inmate population. Hence the change in providers.
The jail medical contract in Norfolk has been a source of controversy for years, as federal agents probed ex-Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe‘s relationship with Correct Care Solutions — which is now known as Wellpath.
In October 2019, McCabe and Gerard F. Boyle, Correct Care’s founder, were indicted in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. Prosecutors accuse McCabe of taking bribes over more than two decades in exchange for steering millions of dollars in city contracts to Correct Care and another friendly business.
Wellpath continues to do business with Norfolk, as well as several other area sheriff’s offices and regional jails.
Virginia Beach previously contracted with Correct Care, but Stolle said he was concerned with the quality of care offered and selected NaphCare to take over.
In 2019, Naphcare gave $7,500 to Stolle’s reelection campaign, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. MEDIKO gave none.
Alissa Skelton, 757-222-5155, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.
