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BACKUS - Jamie Richter, Cass County public health nursing director, reported to the county board the county spent $100,602 in 2010 on inmate health services.

This includes the cost for a Cass public health nurse to spend 5.6 hours per week providing nursing care to inmates at the Cass County Jail in Walker, plus any costs incurred for inmates housed in Crow Wing County Jail to obtain medical services at a provider's office or hospital.

Costs for nursing care for Cass inmates at the Crow Wing jail are included in the daily per diem Cass pays Crow Wing for board and room for each Cass inmate housed at Brainerd.

Richter said medication costs for inmates at Walker ran $7,300 more than budgeted in 2010, but most of that excess was offset by providing fewer nursing hours at the jail there.

She said Crow Wing County does not separate costs for nursing services within their jail between Cass and Crow Wing inmates, but she provided the board with a report on overall health care expenses Crow Wing County incurred in 2010.[[In-content Ad]]

Crow Wing County Jail at Brainerd housed 3,418 inmates in 2010. Of that number 28 percent or 954 were Cass County inmates. The total inmate population made 1,253 requests to see a nurse at the jail.

When inmates stay a specified length of time, they are mandated to have a health screening or tuberculosis screening, Richter said. Two-thirds of Cass inmates at Brainerd would have stayed long enough to have this screening, she said.

Crow Wing County reported doctors saw or gave orders for inmates 121 times in 2010. Inmates had 89 visits with a psychiatrist, 62 visits with a dentist and had blood tests drawn 34 times.

Inmates visited a hospital or clinic outside the jail 39 times.

Richter said when Cass began boarding inmates at the Crow Wing County Jail, Cass's inmate medical costs dropped by about $30,000 annually.

The last three years, Cass has averaged housing 13 or 14 inmates a day at its jail at Walker and 38 or 39 inmates a day under a contract with Crow Wing County at Brainerd. Per inmate boarding costs per day paid to Crow Wing County run $47.89 and are based on Crow Wing County's actual operating expenses.

Prior to that, Cass housed 41 to 45 inmates per day in Walker, but was paying as much as $60 per day to house another 18 to 23 inmates in various other counties' jails.

Reno Wells, health human and veterans services director, informed Cass commissioners Tuesday of another service area where he is investigating a potential cooperative program with neighboring counties.

He would like to see neighboring counties allow applicants for income maintenance benefits be able to apply or renew applications at the most convenient office for them. This might mean a Pillager resident could go to the Crow Wing County Human Services office rather than travel to Walker. It also would eliminate the need for Cass to provide a satellite service in Pillager.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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