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WARREN — The Trumbull County jail needs to do a better job addressing inmate health matters, a state report notes.
The facility has been ruled compliant in 175 out of 179 categories examined during an inspection by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, according to a 2022 report released this month.
In one category, the jail is considered noncompliant with state rules because it was found not to be responsive to medical and mental health issues in a timely manner. The report noted that a system must be developed to address health care requests.
Three other issues that were noncompliant are the ability to lower the interior lighting; better regulation of the heating and cooling in the inmate holding and housing units; and several items in disrepair.
Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe received the report from the state Dec. 5.
Maj. Dan Mason, a sheriff’s deputy and the jail’s administrator, said Dr. Phillip Malvasi, whose company in a recent 2-1 vote by commissioners was awarded a $1,098,000 renewal of the medical contract, is using a portion of a nearly $400,000 increase in fees to hire additional staff to address medical concerns of inmates.
Malvasi said he is bringing both a registered and licensed practical nurse onto his nine-person staff that works at the lockup. The nurses are expected to begin at the jail before the end of the year.
“Having the two new nurses will allow us to do the required 14-day medical evaluations more efficiently,” Malvasi said. “When people are arrested, there are some who don’t want to talk to anyone. So it takes two to three days before they will tell us they need their medications.”
Then, the medical staff does not have information about the inmates’ doctors who originally provided the medications.
Malvasi said much of the remainder of the increase will be used to pay the 35 percent increase in medical insurance premiums.
“There is only one company that provides malpractice insurance for jails and correctional institutions, so there is no going out for the lowest bids,” he said.
Malvasi, who has been providing medical services to the jail for more than 20 years, said the malpractice insurance only provides for correctional institutions and nursing homes, so it is high-risk insurance.
MAINTENANCE
As far as the maintenance concerns in the report, Mason described the jail as being a victim of the supply-chain issue that has plagued the nation.
“We have things on back order — toilets and sink fixtures — and as soon as they arrive, we address the fixtures,” Mason said. “The jail was opened in 1997 and it has been constantly occupied.”
The jail has a capacity to hold 314 prisoners at any given time. In early December, it had 255 prisoners.
“Since COVID, the courts have worked to keep our population down,” Mason said. “The courts have been cutting sentences to keep our populations reasonable to keep slow the spread of disease.”
Mason described the Trumbull County jail, through Malvasi’s contract, as having people in it who are providing medical services 24 hours per day, seven days a week. It has medical assistance staff in the jail that can do both administrative and clinical duties. The medical assistants are able to do the medical evaluation as people are being brought into the jail.
Medical assistants have at least the same level of training as paramedics, he said.
“Inmates coming into the jail needing prescriptions are required to prove the need for them,” Mason said. “If we don’t already have the prescription in the jail pharmacy, then we will order them.”
Mason said the jail quit accepting prescriptions from family and friends because they found that some were including nonprescribed drugs disguised as prescriptions.
“There is a danger of taking contraband from the street that could have been altered,” he said.
rsmith@tribtoday.com
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