NORWICH – The Chenango County Correctional Facility is likely to surpass its medical budget this year, a rare occurrence that authorities attribute to a recent emergency involving a pregnant female inmate going into early unexpected labor and her twin newborns being airlifted to a special care unit in Syracuse.
Chenango County Sheriff Earnest Cutting advised the standing Safety and Rules and Finance committees this month of the incident that occurred over Memorial Day weekend. The inmate - who was remanded for violating an order of probation related to substance abuse - was approximately 30 weeks pregnant when she was given a brief sentence by Chenango County Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. Combined stress of pregnancy, substance abuse and jail time, is conceivably the cause of her going into unexpected early labor, Cutting explained.
When it was clear the inmate was going into labor, correctional staff attempted to contact Judge Revoir or Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dowd, the only two people authorized to sign an order of release from custody which would have omitted any accruing medical expenses from being born by the county. Being the Memorial Day weekend, however, both Revoir and Dowd were out of town and unable to be reached.
The inmate, pregnant with twins, was transported to UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital for an emergency delivery after which her two premature newborns were airlifted individually to a Syracuse hospital for special treatment. She is said to be released from Chenango Memorial at this point and her two children are now in foster care, according to Cutting. But the costs of the ordeal, which included emergency specialized medical treatment for all three individuals and two separate medical helicopter calls, puts serious strain on the correctional facility’s $180,000 annual medical budget.
“We always try to budget according to past trends we see and periodically things like this come up that are outside the norm,” Cutting told committee members, also noting that only 40 percent of the budget had been utilized until the incident. “We haven’t been billed for any of this yet, so we can’t say how much it will effect us, but we do expect the cost to be staggering ... This isn’t something that can fall on anyone’s shoulders. It’s just one of those unfortunate circumstances.”
Regardless, despite the undoubtedly substantial medical costs to be endured by the county, Cutting said there is some good news. The correctional facility is on track of reaching a $550,000 revenue benchmark by July. Revenue is gained by boarding outside area inmates. Hopes are to use revenue funds to cover medical bills, he added, thus relieveing taxpayers of the expense.
“I’m confident, as long as our inmate numbers stay where they are, that we will be able to cover it,” he assured.
The ordeal has also sparked discussion about what can be done to prevent similar happenings in the future. The correctional facility is currently evaluating other alternatives for expecting female inmates who are late in their pregnancy.
Additionally, the facility’s medical budget is burdened by a growing number of inmates with diabetes related health issues - one more concern to be closely monitored by correctional facility staff, said Cutting.
“It’s not just the medical side, but it’s also the kitchen staff and other staff that needs to be up to speed on those requirements for inmates with diabetes,” said Cutting. “Ultimately, we are required by law to maintain medical issues of these inmates. As time goes on, they’re getting more and more challenging.”