FORT MADISON – The State of Iowa’s request for proposals to privatize inmate health care at the state’s nine DOC facilities is a mammoth document that spells out what the state is looking for in a private health care delivery company.
Iowa’s Department of Corrections put out the RFPs on Wednesday prompting a quick and sharp response from AFSCME 61, the union representing the state’s DOC staffers.
The state, through DOC Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius, said the move was very preliminary and spurred by the state’s desire to find efficiencies in correction operations.
However, the 130-page RFP from the DOC spells out the responsibilities the state is looking to turn over to private companies such as VitalCore Health Strategies out of Topeka, Kan.; Centurion Health of Sterling, Va.; NaphCare, Inc of Vestavia Hills, Ala.; and Wexford Health Services in Green Tree, Penn. Several other national providers exist, but are facing legal troubles around subpar care.
VitalCore currently has two former Iowa DOC directors on their staff, including Dr. Harbans Doel and Dr. Jerome Greenfield. Doel was the Iowa DOC health services administrator from 2004 to 2016, according to VitalCore’s website, and is now Chief Medical Officer at VitalCore. Greenfield is also a former DOC health services administrator and serves as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer - Psychiatry at VitalCore.
Iowa State Rep. Blaine Watkins said last week that he wanted to see how the issue flushed out, but said privatization isn't necessarily a bad thing in all respects.
“No decisions have been made, and I want to give the process time to unfold. That said, any move that could affect local jobs, IPERS eligibility, or public safety deserves close attention," he said.
State Sen. Jeff Reichman said he chose not to “play armchair quarterback”.
“We make laws. I’m not going to armchair quarterback a policy decision made at the Department of Corrections,” he said via text Friday.
The proposals asks those who submit a bid to absorb some fairly large expenses including maintenance and replacement of medical equipment, emergency transportation of offenders needing outside care including air flights; provide nurses, including emergency medical services 24/7 at all nine DOC facilities . Doctors must be present at all facilities five days per week. In addition to inclusive medical services, the provider must be able to handle all dental, mental health, and pharmaceutical services for inmates to include, training, staffing and electronic records handling.
At Tuesday’s Lee County Board of Supervisors' meeting, Supervisor Garry Seyb, a retired DOC employee, addressed the issue saying those that staff local facilities are near to his heart.
“This is a state-level thing that affects our area at the prisons looking at privatization or, at least taking bids and looking into it. I did make some phone calls to see where they were at, and I believe it was more of a DOC-initiated thing," Seyb said.
"When I first started, it was privatized and then it went to the state, and I think it will be interesting to see how those bids come back. I find it very unlikely, just me personally, that those could come back in a way that would be effective to the taxpayers of the state,” he said.
Seyb said that could affect as many as 65-70 employees in the area at ISP in Fort Madison and Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility. The state has close to 300 medical care staff in the nine facilities.
Those close to AFSCME Council 61, the union representing staff at the prisons, have said an informational picket is being planned over the issue, but no details were provided.
According to the RFP, companies that are interested in submitting proposals to the state have until July 31 to inform the DOC digitally of their “intent to submit” a proposal, with proposals being due to the state by Sept. 26. Terms of submitted proposals must be good for a minimum of 120 days. There was no timeline for any type of decision by the state.
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