Tulsa County Commissioners Choose New Medical Provider For Jail Inmates

A new medical services provider for inmates was selected by Tulsa County Commissioners at its meeting Monday.

County leaders said this is just the start of healthcare changes in the jail.

Tulsa County Commissioners chose Turnkey Health as the new provider for inmates at the jail.

County Purchasing Director Linda Dorrell said the company will save the county money while providing five more health care workers than they have with

Armor Correctional Health, which is the current provider.

Commissioner Karen Keith questioned if Turnkey had experience with a jail the size of Tulsa County but Sheriff Vic Regalado said it works with a similar-sized jail in Arkansas and the company's CEO used to run medical services for the jail.

Dorrell said this is just the beginning of healthcare changes in the jail, specifically when it comes to mental health.

"They're gonna have a full-time psychiatrist," Dorrell said. "We're also going to amend this contract once we open the new bonds and probably add more mental health providers to help address those issues."

According to The News On 6 content partner The Frontier, several of Turnkey Health's owners donated to Regalado's re-election campaign but the county said in Monday's meeting the jail's contract monitor and financial officer were the only TCSO employees involved in the contract selection process.

The county said the current provider will stay on through December, then begin the transition.