The CEO of a county-owned rural hospital in Texas is calling on the county to start paying off medical bills for emergency care and other treatment provided to inmates, according to the Houston Herald.
Wes Murray, CEO of Texas County Memorial Hospital, said the hospital has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in uncompensated care to inmates, a hard swallow for a rural hospital facing its own unique financial challenges.
"The hospital had to write off nearly $700,000 in bad debt in September, almost $675,000 this month, and part of that belongs to the county," Mr. Murray told board members during a meeting reported on by the Houston Herald.
Mr. Murray said he was told that the county will pay bills only if the agency has a contract with the hospital, which he has been unable to secure.
"We will continue to send bills to the county even though the bills are no longer being paid," he continued. "However, until we reach an agreement with the county, they need to take their inmates elsewhere for their routine care."
Read the full article here.
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