Turn Key Health Clinics Ends 6-Year Partnership With Okla. County Detention Center

The Oklahoma County Detention Center is searching for a new medical provider for inmates.

This comes after its current provider announced it would pull services out of the jail in 30 days.

Turn Key Health was the medical provider at the Oklahoma County Detention Center for 6 years, but, amid disagreements about contracting and staffing, that partnership comes to an end next month and leaves jail officials searching for a new provider.

"We have received notice from Turn Key that they will terminate services this week,” Oklahoma County Detention Center CEO Brandi Garner said at Monday's Criminal Justice Authority meeting.

She was urging jail trust members to authorize jail officials to begin a search for a new medical provider.

The motion passed unanimously.

Two days later, Turn Key Health sent a letter to the jail serving as a "formal notification" that the company would be ending the partnership.

According to the medical group, its annual contract with the jail ended in June when the jail then requested to switch to a month-to-month contract.

"In my conversations with them when asking if they'd be amenable to going month-to-month it was unequivocally no," Garner said Monday.

Turn Key Health said in a statement to News 9, "Our contracts are annual because providing a month-by-month contract would jeopardize the ability to provide the consistent staffing necessary for quality care."

The organization also touted "...chronic, severe and well-documented understaffing..." at the jail as another reason for leaving.

Part of its termination letter reads, "...there was insufficient security staff for providers to see patients..."

Garner and the OCDC released a statement Wednesday that said in part, “Our top priority is to maintain the health and safety of our residents, and we are committed to finding a new provider that shares our dedication to delivering high standards of care."

OCDC officials have 30 days to find a new medical provider and say they are actively working on solutions to ensure there's no disruption to healthcare inside the jail.

Turn Key Health’s last day on-site at the Oklahoma County Detention Center will be October 9.