Brunswick County has spent $825,000 in fiscal year 2014-15 — its budget was $785,000. In New Hanover County, the jail needs an additional $400,000 beyond its $2 million budget.

We have a moral and legal obligation to provide health care, New Hanover County Sheriffs Capt. Mark Vincent said.

Providing medical care for inmates is a huge expense, Brunswick County Sheriff John W. Ingram said. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to predict what the expenses will be from year to year given that one major medical procedure could cost tens of thousands of dollars or more. We can only base it on previous years and hope to come close.

In Pender County, meanwhile, the jails health spending should match its budget, county Finance Director Sylvia Blinson said. The county budgeted $336,800 and, after Junes expenses are factored in, Blinson predicts the county will spend $335,000.

Through May, we have expended $282,048.00 and do not expect to exceed the budget, Blinson wrote in an email.

Since July 1, 63 New Hanover inmates have been hospitalized in private facilities, including New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Vincent said. The years most expensive case involved a female inmate whose six weeks of hospital care has exceeded $100,000 — Vincent said he could not disclose her name or condition.

And Vincent said the jail knows of at least one man who needed a surgery while he was not in prison. Hed committed a crime and his doctor informed him he needed to get clean of drugs before the surgery could happen. So he turned himself in to police, Vincent said.

He told the doctors office he was going to turn himself into the jail so they called (the jail) to schedule his surgery before was an inmate here, Vincent said. He had already committed the crime and … he used the jail to detoxify and then once that was completed wanted to get the surgery.

That man has since been released from the jail, he said.

Vincent said the jail tries to provide as many services as possible in-house to inmates, with medical professionals on staff at the jails clinic.

Having these things in place greatly reduces costs, he said.

But the clinic, which looks like any other found in a hospital wing or private facility, isnt equipped to provide more expensive treatment like chemotherapy, dialysis or surgery.

Local confinement facilities are not meant for or dont have the medical capabilities for the needs inmates have, Vincent said.

Contact Tim Buckland at 910-343-2217 or Tim.Buckland@StarNewsOnline.com.

article source