New Jersey Employment Agencies must be registered with the Dept. of Law and Public Safety this applies to Executive Search Firms, Temp Agencies and Talent Booking firms among others. Under the heading of Temp Agencies falls many health care providers who supply nursing staff members and sometimes physicians and other therapists, as well as nurses aides who work temporarily in private homes and institutions.
Once a very tightly regulated industry the business was deregulated somewhat back in the 90’s which allowed headhunters such as me to legally work from the comfort of their own homes. However, there are still large fines levied against those businesses who try to circumvent the remaining existing regulations, such as becoming legally licensed or properly advertising.
Another Contract
On March 8th the UC Board of Chosen Freeholders unanimously approved a resolution entering into a one year contract with Correctional Health Services of Verona, in an amount not to exceed $4,228,368 which was a 9 percent increase of what had been paid the same company previously. They would continue to provide medical services to the inmates and residents of the county jail and JV center.
At the appropriate time I voiced my concerns about this vendor, I asked the freeholders if any of them ever, on their own, just out of curiosity Google any of their vendors, just to check them out. Of course the response was the typical “deer in the headlights” stare, which I had expected, and I knew that the answer was no. I went on that regardless of what I had to tell them about this company that they would approve the contract anyway, and of course they did.
Even after sharing the abysmal track record that this company has including the deaths of two inmates in Essex County facilities, for the same reason on the exact same day (Star Ledger 8/04), and in NY of withholding necessary medication, understaffing and unqualified personnel leading to inmate deaths(NY Times 2/05). And of Morris county taking back the medical care in their facilities and hence saving tax dollars and still providing quality care.
Correctional Health Services, Verona is listed in McRae’s blue book as having a temporary agency providing medical staffing services, however a search of the NJ state website did not turn up a trace of them in the latest agency listings, so are they licensed?
Complaints
A subsidiary of Prison Health Services out of Tennessee, a company who has numerous complaints filed against them in facilities around the country, CHS appears to have been awarded their first UC contract in excess of $4 million in early 1999, for the period 10/1/98 thru 12/31/99.
They made their first political contribution to the UC Dem Committee on 10/25/98, followed by another $2500 on 11/5/98 and have given in the neighborhood of $20K in Union County alone with thousands more spread around the state.
It should be pointed out that here in UC we have had three deaths in three years in our correctional facilities which could be attributed to a lack of medical attention under CHS’s watch, and that the families are in the process of suing the taxpayers for millions.
Closing remarks
During their closing comments at the meeting County Manager George Devanney reported that CHS received the contract because they were the lowest bidder, and Chairwoman BJ Kowalski related that with regard to the medical services “we do the best we can”.
People are not paper clips
Well it seems to me that this contract is not about the purchase of paper clips and rubber bands, and since the freeholders defend the no bid contracts which they award for roads and bridges as going to the most qualified companies with good track records certainly they can do the same when they are dealing with human life. I am sorry to say Madam Chairwoman that the best you can is definitely not good enough for the taxpayers of UC and especially for the families who lost their loved ones all too soon.
1010 WINS - ALL NEWS. ALL THE TIME. 1010wins.com
Third Death In 2 Weeks At Essex County Jail
Apr 3, 2004 6:55 pm US/EasternAn Essex County Jail inmate died of an apparent heart atack Friday, the third death of a prisoner in the county correctional system in the last two weeks. Harold Hardy, 55, had a history of heart problems and hypertension before he arrived at the jail March 15 after being arrested for wandering around Newark. He was receiving medication, according to Essex County Counsel Francis Giantomasi. On March 20, 50-year-old Stanley Washington was beaten to death in his cell. Last Monday, 44-year-old Debra Brown died after suffering an aneurysm. There were 13 deaths in the county correctional system last year, more than three times the yearly average for years before 2003. The recent deaths have occurred at a time when the county has opened a new, $416 million county jail that officials say provides improved security and better medical facilities than in the past. Inmates were transferred to the facility on Doremus Avenue last weekend. But many people have complained of problems at the new jail. T. Gary Mitchell, an attorney and advocate for county inmates, said he found leaking pipes and toilets during a tour of the jail Friday. "For a brand new facility, the physical plant is extremely disappointing," he said. Giantomasi said the problems have been minor and that some have been caused by inmates and by a work slowdown by a small number of corrections officers. He said 15 to 20 percent of the staff has not been coming in to work. "That sort of activity has got to stop," he said. Representatives of the unions that represent the corrections officers said the officers have not received enough training to run the new jail.© MMIV Infinity Broadcasting Corp
Families file suit in deaths of 2 inmates Diabetic Essex prisoners did not receive insulin, complaint states Thursday, August 19, 2004BY NIKITA STEWART Star-Ledger Staff The relatives of two inmates who died in Essex County correctional facilities last August have filed a joint wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the county and a private health care firm that provides jail medical services. Henry Sipp, 43, and Mary Barber, 50, died within hours of each other on Aug. 27, 2003, of diabetic ketoacidosis, an emergency medical condition caused by a severe lack of insulin, according to the lawsuit. Thomas Howard, the relatives' attorney, said they are still trying to find out what happened to Sipp and Barber, but they know the county and Correctional Health Services failed to properly treat the inmates. "I can't think of any legitimate reason why they were denied insulin," he said. Assistant County Counsel Harry Del Plato said he could confirm only that Sipp and Barber died in county custody. He would not disclose whether the man and woman were given insulin or if the county knew they were diabetic. "Because this is a potential matter that is going to be litigated ... I can't give you any more information than that," Del Plato said. Correctional Health Services, the private firm that has furnished medical services to the county jail system for nearly 15 years, did not return phone calls for comment. The lawsuit comes at a time when Essex County is re-examining its $9 million contract with CHS, which is based in Verona and was founded by Robert Detore, that town's mayor . CHS was hired to improve medical services since the county employed only a part-time physician to care for 2,000 inmates in the 1980s. This month, the county did not renew its annual contract with the firm, opting instead for a two- month extension of its current contract through Oct. 31. Five firms, including CHS, are reviewing the county's needs and are expected to submit bids to the county in about two weeks, said Paul Hopkins, the county treasurer. In March, the county opened its new $416 million jail in Newark. The medical facilities, which include equipment for on-site dialysis, have been hyped by the county as contributing to better health care of inmates. The "state-of-the-art" infirmary has attracted more bidders than in the past, when private firms worried about working in the poor conditions of the medical wards at the county's former jails in Newark and North Caldwell, Hopkins said. County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said the county also is searching for a medical director who would oversee medical care. "I want to have someone here who is watching the shop to hold these people accountable," he said. The medical director would also monitor the actions of corrections officers, DiVincenzo said. The lawsuit filed by Tamika Barber, Barber's daughter, and Aletha Luckey, Sipp's mother, names a physician, nurses and corrections officers as the people responsible for the deaths through negligence. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court last week. Barber was found dead shortly after 6 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2003, on the floor of her cell at the county jail annex in North Caldwell, county officials said at the time. Barber, who had been arrested on drug charges in a sweep of Seth Boyden housing complex on Aug. 21, 2003, "pleaded for insulin but defendant denied her that medication," according to the lawsuit. Barber was in pain, suffering from headaches, vomiting and other ailments, according to the lawsuit. "Defendants were adequately informed of Mary Barber's condition and treatment information was available but displayed deliberate indifference toward providing treatment," the lawsuit reads. Sipp, of Newark, was arrested on Aug. 25, 2003, and taken into county custody about 9 p.m. that day and taken to the county jail on Market Street in Newark, according to the lawsuit. County officials said last year that Sipp had been picked up on a 1996 arrest warrant for simple assault. He was later taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center to be examined and was determined to be "an insulin-dependent diabetic," according to the lawsuit. "While in defendants' custody, Henry Sipp pleaded for insulin but was denied such medication." The nursing staff at the jail said Sipp was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at 5:30 p.m. and that the last contact with him was two hours earlier, according to the lawsuit. The final report of the Regional Medical Examiner's Office listed the cause of death to be diabetic ketoacidosis, the same cause of death as Barber.
NJ Elec.
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH FACILITY
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
04-MAR-2003
$1,000.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2003
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
20-OCT-2001
$2,500.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2001
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
23-OCT-2002
$1,750.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2002
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
18-SEP-2000
$1,000.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2000
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
25-JUN-2003
$500.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2003
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
08-MAR-2004
$1,500.00
UNION CTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2004
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
23-OCT-2003
$200.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2003
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
30-SEP-2003
$1,000.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2003
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
16-JUN-2003
$500.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2003
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
02-MAR-2001
$500.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2001
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
02-NOV-1998
$2,500.00
UNION CTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 1998
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
25-OCT-1998
$2,500.00
UNION CTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 1998
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
30-SEP-1999
$5,000.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 1999
CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES INC
25 POMPTON AVE STE 305VERONA, NJ 07044
07-MAR-2000
$2,500.00
UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CMTEPOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE, 2000
