Texas County commissioners told its county hospital last week it is under no obligation to pay medical bills incurred by those held at the county jail. A letter also disputes an accusation that any prisoners have been left in the hospital parking lot.
PDF: Letter to hospital from Texas County Commission
The correspondence came after a decision by the Texas County Memorial Hospital board of trustees to no longer see inmates for routine matters at the Texas County Jail. Only emergency medical care will be provided. The decision, TCMH said, was due to the county owing approximately $220,000 in unpaid medical bills. The commission said it has no contract with the hospital for healthcare services.
As a county-owned hospital, the institution says it has historically billed the county at half its normal billing amount. The March edict also extends to blood draws in alcohol-related requested by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department.
“The individuals are not prisoners but are individuals charged with crimes and as such are individually responsible for bills they incur,” the commissioners wrote.
The commissioners deny the sheriff’s department has ever left prisoners on TCMH’s parking lot. The hospital board said it has happened and is alarmed for the safety of its workers and the public. TCMH cited incidents when a prisoner in ICU left and another patient destroyed property. The county said in the first case the inmate had been medically furloughed and in the second incident, which it said was a juvenile, the person was not in custody. In the latter case, there is no record of it now in court documents. He earlier had been indicted by a county grand jury, and the case transferred to circuit court.
PROBLEMS PERSIST BETWEEN COUNTY AND HOSPITAL
In an incident reported last Thursday afternoon, the Houston Police Department said two of its officers were assaulted by a woman who arrived on the TCMH campus in a county deputy’s vehicle from the Cabool area. The woman, who was in the emergency department, was reported uncontrollable when the hospital called the city police department, according to a report. City police used a Taser twice at different times to detain the woman, according to a police report. The matter was discussed at a Houston City Council meeting on Monday. City Administrator Tona Bowen expressed alarm, and she said the city would immediately call a meeting with county government.