San Luis Obispo County has agreed to participate in a statewide study on how to provide better healthcare in county jails.
Sarah Hayter, an administrative analyst at the SLO County executive office, told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to provide healthcare in county jails.
“ We are seeing rising costs and complexity of jail medical care and ongoing staffing shortages,” Hayter said. “That's leading to a greater reliance on contract and temporary providers, and increasing costs.”
SLO County contracted with the private company Wellpath to provide jail medical care in 2018.
In 2021, the Department of Justice investigated the San Luis Obispo County Jail. According to a press release, it found “reasonable cause to believe that the jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care to prisoners …”
Hayter says the proposed statewide study would research alternative models for delivering medical care in jails, identify ways to lower costs and improve healthcare quality, but wouldn’t commit to any specific model. Twenty-six California counties will take part, including Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to agree to participate in the study and to set aside $95,000 for the project, the amount the county would need to contribute to fund the research.
