ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol announced a new partnership with healthcare company Wellpath that will provide comprehensive medical and dental healthcare at the Oneida County Jail.
“The pandemic, the opioid epidemic. We’ve been dealing with the mandates for medically assisted treatment in correctional facilities put on by all jails by the recent legislation here in New York State. So, the inmates need a lot more specialized care,” said Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol.
The three-year agreement was approved by the Oneida County Board of Legislators and County Executive Anthony Picente at the end of 2022. Although this provider is new, the current staff will remain. Wellpath will absorb the existing employees while adding two to three additional members. New additions also include telehealth services and digitizing medical records.
“We will be joining forces with the health information exchange for New York State. That’s important because when someone enters the jail we will be able to access whether or not they had a care in any other place in New York State and be able to begin services more quickly,” said Cindy Watson, Local Government Operations President of the East – Wellpath.
Watson also emphasized that Wellpath will work directly with mental health professionals from Helio to provide inmates with medication-assisted treatment as well.
The partnership began on Jan. 1.
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