Florida DOC Sued By Ousted Medical Vendor
Florida’s prison system is embroiled in a lawsuit filed by an ousted vendor on a major contract that accuses the state of illegally favoring a competitor. Reported by the Miami Herald.
The lawsuit was filed by MHM Correctional Services, which wants to extend its 2 ½-year contract to provide mental healthcare to more than 15,000 inmates in a dozen South Florida prisons … The Department of Corrections wants to fire MHM and replace it with a rival, Correctional Medical Services of St. Louis, even though CMS would charge the state $5.5 million more for the same service over a five-year period.
MHM says the prison system began ‘’secret” and ”closed-door” talks with CMS more than two weeks before MHM and another vendor learned that their proposals were rejected. The lawsuit says the state has agreed to pay CMS $74.49 per inmate per month, more than the $70 stipulated in the state’s request for proposals, and that CMS would have a 30-day grace period to fix contract violations before the state could impose fines, which MHM called highly irregular. MHM is paid $77.62 per inmate per month under its current contract, which will expire July 1 …
Corrections officials have declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing pending litigation and a disputed contract award. Prison chief Walt McNeil said he was confident his agency would prevail.
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