Calhoun County owed $52,000 by bankrupt health care provider at state prison

MORGAN – Wellpath Holdings Inc., one of the largest providers of health care services to prisons and jails across the U.S., filed bankruptcy in November, leaving $52,000 unpaid to Calhoun County’s EMS services.

The health care provider serviced the Calhoun State Prison, located in Morgan. The prison relied on Calhoun’s EMS service, which the county manages and runs on its own. Mandie Milner, the county clerk, said the county had a difficult time receiving payment for its services.

“It kept backing up and racking up,” she said. “I mean, $52,000 for a county our size makes a difference.”

Calhoun County has about 3,300 registered voters. Milner said the prison’s population is included in the census, which makes the population look “a little off.”

She said the county’s commissioners previously reached out to the lieutenant governor’s office and Georgia Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, about outstanding invoices with the prison. They also met with prison officials.

“We’ve been telling them for a very long time that they were seriously behind on their payments, and the debt was only adding, and we got nothing,” Milner said.

One email, sent to the Department of Corrections in March by the Board of Commissioners, read, “This is a small county that operates on a tight budget, and when we have open balances, it is causing distress to both our financial status as well as our county citizens whose property taxes have to pay for shortfalls.”

The commissioners urged the DOC to initiate an immediate investigation into the reasons behind the unpaid ambulance bills in the email.

Eight months later, the Board of Commissioners received the bankruptcy letter. Now, Milner said county leadership is concerned they will not receive the $52,000, which would fall on taxpayers.

Wellpath Holdings owes money to EMS services across the country, including $6 million to EMS providers in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula.

Milner said Calhoun State Prison put a heavy strain on Calhoun County’s EMS services. The county has one ambulance, which Milner said takes about a half-million dollars to run per year. Much of that cost comes from providing services to Calhoun State Prison.

She called the prison a burden on Calhoun County as a whole, although, Edison and Morgan benefit by selling gas and water to the prison, respectively.

Along with EMS services, Milner said the prison has a contract with Calhoun County’s Sheriff’s Office, which prioritizes incidents at the jail. Meanwhile, the county is using its own vehicles and gas to provide these services but not getting reimbursed.

The prison also has failed to provide the county with a consistent, legitimate inmate work detail program since the COVID-19 pandemic, despite having a signed contract to do so, effective July 1.

County commissioners addressed this issue in the March email as well, writing, “We have a signed contact regarding the detail, but in March of 2020 the detail no longer reported for duties outside the prison premises. We understood this was due to COVID-19 precautions, and the board was agreeable to temporarily suspending those services.

“However, we have yet to see the detail return to full force despite meeting with the warden and deputy warden. There was a work detail that did come out with three men in the fall of last year after contacting the lieutenant governor’s office, but it slowly dwindled down to one man and once again completely absent with no idea of when it might return.”

Milner said the prison provided one inmate work detail briefly during the summer, but the work one person could complete within the county was limited.

The commissioners also brought up concerns about contraband chases associated with Calhoun State Prison, writing that the issue had become a nuisance that was increasingly affecting the community.

“It has become evident that the pursuit of contraband, particularly by those attempting to smuggle illegal substances or items into the prison, has resulted in numerous disturbances within our community,” the March email read. “These chases often involve reckless driving, stolen property, trespassing and disturbances of the peace, creating an atmosphere of fear and unease among residents. The frequency of these incidents poses a significant burden on our local law enforcement resources, diverting attention and manpower away from other critical tasks aimed at maintaining public safety and order.”

Milner said there also have been eight deaths at Calhoun State Prison in 2024. These cases are worked on by the Calhoun County coroner, who is funded by taxpayers.

Milner called the entire situation disheartening.

Calhoun County Commission Chairman Conner Collins said it’s been unclear what will happen with the $52,000 owned.

“The state put the prison here, and they ought to pay for it,” he said.

Greene said he believes Wellpath Holdings Inc. will be protected by bankruptcy laws. He said he’s been aware of the situation for at least a year and plans to communicate with DOC but hasn’t had the chance to reach out because of prior legislative priorities.

Milner said the county gets the majority of its revenue from property taxes. She said the county’s budget is tight, and this debt owed will cause a strain.

“We understand the burden of property taxes … money is spent wisely because it affects people,” she said. “We have people who have to pay their taxes and figure out if they’re gonna be able to pay for their medications. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”

The Albany Herald reached out to the DOC about this issue but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Staff Photo: Lucille Lannigan
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