Critics attack Guinn's private-prison plan

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan to replace 320 medical employees in the state prison system with private companies will probably reduce the quality of health care and end up costing more in the long run, critics say.

Representatives of a state union, nurses and psychologists urged the legislative budget committees Tuesday to reject the proposal, which Guinn estimates will save 8 percent to 10 percent of what is being spent on medical care for inmates.

Medical costs have already been shaved $4 million in the last year with the present system, said Diane Mathis, director of nursing at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City. She said the private medical care now being given inmates at two of the state prisons isn't up to par.

"It is our firm belief that no private firm can offer the same level of service at a reduced cost," said Bob Gagnier, director of the State of Nevada Employees Association.

But Prison Director Bob Bayer said if there are no savings when the bids come in from private companies, then the state will continue its present system.

The state women's prison in North Las Vegas is operated under contract by Corrections Corporation of America, which provides medical care. The state also has a contract with CMS Inc. for medical care at the state prison in Ely.

Bayer told the budget committees that private industry estimates it can save 10 percent. His budget pegs medical costs for the entire system under a private company at $30 million a year.

Mathis said the nursing staff at Carson City already saves the prison system money by developing specialties, cutting down on the need to send inmate patients to outside hospitals. She said CMS initially could not provide care for the most seriously ill inmates at Ely, who were transferred to the prison regional medical center in Carson City.

She said the services provided by Corrections Corporation were "even more dismal." She said female inmates are not thoroughly checked when they arrive at the prison in North Las Vegas and later examinations by the state staff show they have sexually transmitted diseases and other illnesses.

In addition, said Sharon Wilson, a senior psychologist at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, a "model" mental health program has been built in the prison system. Wilson warned that the state would not be protected from lawsuits if it contracts out its health programs.

This is another chapter in the criticism of Guinn's budget, which has been attacked by special interest groups as not providing enough money for present state programs. Guinn does not want to raise taxes and said he has had to reduce the budget by $140 million just to keep it balanced.

Guinn has said that Nevada prison medical services are the eighth highest in the nation, but Gagnier said independent statistics show medical costs overall in Nevada are 18 percent to 24 percent higher than the national average.

Gagnier said he has no doubt a private firm will submit a "low-ball bid" to get the contract, "and once the state no longer has the medical personnel, you will see a rapid increase in the cost."

The state's experience in the past in dealing with private contractors has been "negative," Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, said. After the contracts were signed, he said, the state has had to come in and "clean up" the problems created.

He wondered if the state would be able to write a contract to cover all contingencies. Bayer replied that the state has a $40 million to $45 million-a-year contract with Corrections Corporation, which "is probably the tightest contract in the country."

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