CLEARFIELD – The details of how medication through the MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) program is administered at the Clearfield County Jail was a main topic of discussion during Thursday’s Prison Board meeting.
Tom Weber, the chief executive officer of PrimeCare Medical, was on hand to further explain a letter sent to the board stating that the group is going to stop the support program at the end of the month.
County Commissioner Dave Glass noted that because the regular prison board meeting this month was cancelled, the deadline was extended until Oct. 30.
Weber explained that the MAT program is being handled by another group, Meshach from Philipsburg, because his company was not the successful bidder for the county.
However, nurses from PrimeCare are the ones actually distributing the necessary drugs to the inmates.
“Our nurses now are spending hours a day handing out prescriptions,” he said, adding this is not what they are contracted to do.
The nurses are also handling the inventory/storage of the mediations. He said they spend five hours a day on tasks for the MAT program.
“I am here to figure out how best to resolve this,” Weber said.
Kris Canfield of Meshach was also at the meeting to address this issue. She said the original medication was an injection only done once a week, but because they are very expensive, they switched to Suboxone film or Subutex, which is given daily. Originally the shots were given by Meshach employees.
Her company does not have any nurses who can hand out medication daily, she said.
Glass mentioned that the county has received a grant for Vivitrol, which is a monthly shot. Using this instead could solve the problem.
Weber responded that it depends who is administering the injections.
“We can resolve this if we work together,” Weber said.
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman referred to the contract with Meshach from January 2024 noting that the two options for treatment listed are no longer being used.
Weber stated that the shots have not been used since 2022.
“The contract was outdated, the moment it was signed,” Weber said.
The jail is required by the state to include the MAT program for inmates who are already in a drug treatment program when they become incarcerated. Eventually it may become mandatory to also cover any inmate with an addiction.
The board called an executive session to further discuss the problem. Afterwards, it was noted that there may be a decision on this at the October meeting.
Although it wasn’t mentioned at the meeting, the county is paying over $1 million to Heather Walstrom, mother of Kaitlyn Evans, who died after a drug overdose in July 2023.
Since that time, the former warden, David Gallagher was fired and the county purchased a body scanner to stop drugs being smuggled into the facility.
Both Heather and Harold Walstrom were in attendance at the meeting. Harold addressed the board thanking them for their efforts to correct problems at the jail.
But, because he still has some concerns, he asked for a meeting to discuss them with the board rather than before the media in a public meeting.
County Commissioner John Sobel responded that this is something that they can arrange.
Harold, who worked at the jail years ago, still has hopes the jail can be “something we can be proud of,” he said.
Deputy Warden Krisha Oates read a letter from a former inmate thanking the staff for “saving” his life and for their professionalism and concern, illustrating how the changes are already impacting inmates.
“This is what we hope for,” she said, adding currently they have a “really solid staff.”
In other business, the board learned:
- All the corrections officers are now CPR certified.
- Four inmates are currently in the work release program.
- The jail has 31 full-time and three part-time Cos, but the warden would prefer to have at least 35.
