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More Inmates In Denver Jails Getting Sick And Injured, Hospital Authority Costs Go Up

November 21, 2005

Hospitalizing sick or injured inmates booked into Denver jails is expected to cost taxpayers more than $5.6 million next year, a 54 percent jump over the amount budgeted in 2005. A spike in the number of inmates and those in need of more serious medical attention are responsible for driving up the costs, according to an official. Increased funding is necessary due to constitutional rights of inmates which if violated, can lead to even more expensive lawsuits.

'We've seen an increase in the (inmate) population ... and sicker patients with more injuries,' said Peg Burnette, chief financial officer for the Denver Health and Hospital Authority, which provides medical care to the city's inmates. The hospital authority, which also cares for Denver's indigent and offers other health-related services in the city, recently presented its 2006 operating agreement to the City Council's Youth and Community Services Committee. The $47 million-plus agreement is scheduled to go before the full council later this month. The biggest increase in the 2006 contract is for hospital expenses incurred by inmates. The contract calls for spending $5.62 million total.

The jail population has increased 22 percent this year, Burnette said, and 'the number of days that we've seen the inmates in the hospital has gone up . . . by 31 percent.' The 2005 agreement called for spending $3.65 million, but the hospital authority already has asked the city for an additional $2.2 million this year to cover unexpected hospital bills for inmates.

Burnette said 'it's likely' the hospital authority would ask for supplemental funds next year, too. 'Prisoners are the only group in the United States that have a constitutional right to health care,' said Stephanie Thomas, the hospital authority's chief operating officer.

The hospital authority also provides inmates on-site medical care. The city spent $5.78 million this year on medical services provided at the central jail infirmary and is expected to spend $6.94 million next year. In all, the city anticipates spending more than $12.5 million on inmate health care in 2006.

Thomas said there are plans to hire a consultant to look for ways to reduce hospital expenses and treat more inmates at the jail infirmary. 'It could result in an increase in costs there, but a much bigger savings on the hospital side,' she said. The infirmary is 'the first place that we want prisoners to go for care,' Burnette said. 'Then to the hospital if they have to.'

Burnette said hospital costs for individual inmates have ranged from $2,000 to $300,000. There were five cases in 2003 that cost more than $50,000 each, but there have been 35 such cases this year, she said.

Councilman Doug Linkhart said the hospital authority ends up providing more services than the city pays for. 'We are increasing the amount that we're giving to them, but not significantly, and their costs are going up substantially,' said Linkhart, who chairs the Youth and Community Services Committee. 'I am concerned about how much we're giving to them, but even more so how much their costs are going up.'