Shasta County supervisors approved a $25 million contract with Virginia-based Mediko to provide health care services to inmates at the county jail.
The three-year contract costs around 40% more than the county’s agreement with its current provider, Wellpath, but would add much-needed medical staff to the jail, staff said.
Sheriff Michael Johnson summarized findings from a grand jury report on the county’s jail at a board of supervisors meeting this week
“We are grossly understaffed, not just as correctional deputies but for medical as well,” he said. “Yes, [this contract] is substantial in the amount of cost per year, but it also doubles the staffing for medical.”
The county initiated the grand jury investigation after five in-custody deaths occurred at the Shasta County Jail over a 13-month period beginning in 2023.
The county received eight proposals for the jail’s new health care provider. Johnson said officials recommended Mediko in part because of lawsuits against the county’s current provider.
“It's based on looking at our liability, changing the culture in the jail, changing the service to the inmates and our exposure,” Johnson said.
Wellpath has faced about 1,500 lawsuits related to its services nationwide, including an $11 million settlement following an inmate death in Redding.
“I'll be the first to say if there's something where we blew it, we need to be held accountable,” Supervisor Kevin Crye said. “But oftentimes, there's a lot of sue-happy people in the criminal justice sector, especially attorneys.”
Johnson said Mediko has not lost a judgment related to its medical services.
But since 2017, the company has faced over a dozen lawsuits in Virginia for medical malpractice and wrongful death, according to local news reports. Mediko did not respond to a request for comment.
The company provides services to dozens of facilities on the East Coast.
