CLEARFIELD – The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program provided at the Clearfield County Jail was discussed at Tuesday’s Clearfield County Commissioners’ 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 has been a topic of much discussion for the county since late September.
In its letter, PrimeCare had advised that it intended to stop administering the MAT program. Consequently, the county terminated its contract with Meshach in October and has since sought new MAT proposals while PrimeCare has continued administering the program until the county has a new contract.
The county received two proposals, but the responses from PrimeCare and Acadia Healthcare used different methods to determine their costs. Previously, it was also noted that Acadia has no experience in a jail setting.
Tuesday Commissioner Dave Glass said the county has done “a lot of due diligence” along with the Clearfield-Jefferson Drug and Alcohol Commission, and found some “duplication of services” in the proposals.
So, the amount in our original proposal will likely be significantly less, he said, and Commissioners John Sobel and Tim Winters agreed, noting there isn’t a need for mental health and re-entry services, which are already in place.
“It’s going to make it much more manageable and much more reasonable,” Sobel said.
Following discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to authorize Solicitor Heather Bozovich to enter into contractual discussions with PrimeCare for administration of the MAT program.
In other business, the commissioners:
- approved an updated business associate agreement and qualified service organization agreement with PrimeCare Medical Inc. as a result of federal law changes with regards to protecting the personal health information of inmates.
- approved purchase of service agreements with Woods Service and Community Haven Group Home Inc., on behalf of Clearfield County Children, Youth & Family Services.
- approved a letter of agreement with CORE Psychiatric & Psychology Services for the CYFS and Probation departments.
- approved a three-year professional service agreement with MCM Consulting at the request of 911/Emergency Management Director Dave McClure.
- reported four openings on the Community Connections Advisory Board, one opening on the county’s Industrial Development Authority and two openings on the county’s Solid Waste Authority. Letters of interest should be submitted to the commissioners by Dec. 16.
- approved the personnel report consisting of seven new hires, four employee separations/retirements, one employee transfer and one employee leave of absence.
- approved the minutes of the Nov. 19 board meeting as presented by the chief clerk.
