FARMINGTON – A company that provides medical services to Franklin County jail inmates plans to terminate its contract this month, instead of Dec. 31 when it expires.

There is an opt-out clause in the contract between Allied Resources for Correctional Health Inc. of Augusta and the Franklin County Commission.

Commissioners said Tuesday they would get more information from the health provider to find out why it is terminating the contract and what the county’s options are.

At a meeting in June with Sheriff Dennis Pike, a company representative told the sheriff ARCH had been losing $600 a month at the jail for more than a year, Pike told commissioners Tuesday.

Douglas F. Jennings, a lawyer for Allied Resources for Correctional Health, wrote to commissioners in a letter dated July 31, stating its intent to terminate service. The three-year contract entered into on Jan. 1, 2006, had costs of $26,500 for 2006; $27,250 for 2007; and $28,000 for 2008. Some services not covered under the contract have additional costs, Jail Administrator Sandra Collins said.

Jail officials say an inspection by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement team in June alerted them to the medical provider not following corrections medical standards.

The medical files were “a mess,” Collins said.

Since then, Allied has corrected 75 to 85 percent of those concerns, including putting medical records in order, Collins said. The company had no quality assurance person since last fall.

Jennings’ letter stated the company wrote to Sheriff Pike on May 14 and expressing issues that adversely effect the firm’s ability to continue to provide medical services to the jail.

“Those concerns have not been addressed; we cannot maintain staff at the jail under these conditions. While we understand the issues raised in the (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) dated June 16, 2008, and have responded to them, the report clearly indicates that ARCH has met and continues to meet Maine (Department of Corrections) standards at the jail in fulfillment of their contract obligations,” Jennings wrote.

The economic climate has compelled ARCH to re-examine its relationship with Franklin County, he wrote.

Jennings, who was not available for comment Tuesday, went on to say that the company would do what it could to train corrections staff to administer medications and attempt to assist the county prior to termination.

Pike told commissioners Tuesday that he had no recollection of receiving a letter dated May 14.

Collins, the jail administrator, took responsibility for not overseeing the medical contract. “I was trusting, maybe too trusting,” she said.

She thought the company was following corrections standards, she said, adding that the company said it could provide additional services, but it would be for more money.

Since a contract for substance abuse and mental health counseling services at the jail was awarded to another company, ARCH has been less than cooperative, Collins said.

Initially, ARCH was awarded the contract pending corrections review but when it didn’t meet criteria for on-call services, the proposal was re-bid and another company got it.

Jail medical services cited

FARMINGTON – A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement team inspected the Franklin County jail in June and discovered problems with medical services, as noted in a June 16 letter to Jail Administrator Sandra Collins.

The Franklin County jail cannot lodge federal Department of Homeland Security detainees until a plan of action is submitted and all issues corrected. No detainees have been housed there since November.

Seventy-five percent to 85 percent of the issues have been addressed by the contracted medical service provider and the jail.

Concerns raised by the federal inspection team were related to medical services after inspection in June.

The six areas of concerns were:

• Inadequate medical charts and documentation, no physician to sign off;

• 14-day physicals not being completed on time. Some never completed;

• No tuberculosis testing;

• No quality-control program;

• Minimum oversight of the medical contract;

• Staffing not adequate.