CLEARFIELD – A brief update on the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program provided at the Clearfield County Jail was given at Tuesday’s Clearfield County Prison Board meeting.
The county had contracted with Meshach Recovery Center Inc. of Philipsburg to administer the MAT program.
However, some issues arose because nurses from PrimeCare—the jail’s medical services provider—were actually distributing the necessary drugs to the inmates, which was only recently brought to the attention of the county by letter and in turn became a topic of much discussion for the county’s Prison Board on Sept. 26.
Oct. 1, Commissioner Chairman Dave Glass said that PrimeCare made a very valid point at the September Prison Board meeting: it has been performing work that it wasn’t contracted to do.
“If Meshach is supposed to be administering the program, I’m not sure what it’s doing—other than moving some papers around.” We need a better contract with clearly-stated procedures to reset this program, he said.
And, Commissioners Tim Winters and John Sobel both agreed.
There was a real divergence from our contract agreement with Meshach, said Winters, and termination of that contract agreement would be a good first step towards moving forward with a clean slate.
The commissioners subsequently authorized Solicitor Heather Bozovich to prepare a 60-day notice of termination of its MAT contract with Meshach, as well as to prepare a Request for Proposals for MAT services at the jail.
Our next agreement must delineate program responsibilities very clearly, said Glass, noting how its agreement with Meshach was “heavy” on specific medications but very light on specific responsibilities.
This, Winters said, is kind of backwards as it’s not so much about medications but the procedures that must be followed in administration of the program.
Glass said the MAT program issues were really off the county’s “radar” for some time otherwise the commissioners and Prison Board would have addressed them much sooner.
At prior meetings, it was noted that PrimeCare had planned to terminate its administration of the MAT program Sept. 30 but then agreed to continue through the end of October.
In an update Tuesday, Glass said the county has released its RFP and hopes to have a new MAT contract in place by Dec. 1 but did note that all parties are committed to making sure program patients continue to receive treatment until that happens.
The jail is required by the state to have 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.
Glass and Winters commended the jail’s administration and Bozovich for their special attention to detail in preparation of the RFP. Glass welcomed all applicants.
The next Prison Board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19, in the commissioners’ conference room, beginning at 12 p.m.