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Quorum Court to discuss medical director |
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Tuesday, 18 March 2008 |
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By Jillian Duke
Courier Staff The Saline County Finance and Personnel Committee will meet before the regularly scheduled Quorum Court meeting today to discuss hiring a medical director for the jail.
The committee meeting will start at 6 p.m. in courtroom 1 at the county courthouse in Downtown Benton. The Quorum Court meeting will follow at 6:30.
The medical director’s position at the jail is a new post created to comply with jail standards and handle the medical needs of the jail population. A full-time nurse now is working at the jail to distribute medications, but a medical director is needed to give her instructions if someone has a problem that has not been previously diagnosed.
The detention facility on Neeley Street opened last year and has capacity for more inmates than the old jail, which used to be housed in the basement of the courthouse.
Complying with jail standards has been the topic of discussion among county officials, and the goal with the new position is expected to help in this compliance and also cut down on costs.
Justice of the Peace J.R. Walters of Alexander said medical costs have been high without a nurse and medical director on staff. If inmates complain of a headache or backache and request medical attention, the jail staff has to comply.
“They have to take them to the ER, and the ER ends up giving them an MRI or CT scan, which most of the time the inmates don’t need, and that can cost around $3,000 or $4,000 each time,” Walters said.
Walters said the county spent more than $25,000 last year on such expenses. Justices of the peace also are expected to vote on an ordinance appropriating an additional $4,000 per month for general liability insurance for the medical director position. A total of $26,307.78 is appropriated for the position.
In other business, the Quorum Court will consider the second reading of an ordinance appropriating $300,276 for the proposed county animal shelter. This would be the first county-operated shelter to help remedy the abandoned animal issue in the county.
JPs also will vote on an ordinance appropriating $15,000 for the voluntary tax for a warning system. County residents have the option of paying a voluntary tax each year to receive radios that alert them to inclement weather.
Also on the agenda is an ordinance appropriating $35,949 for an information technology position. This person, under the supervision of County Judge Lanny Fite, would oversee and meet the county’s computer needs.
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