HOLLIDAYSBURG — Mental health and substance abuse continue to be the “most significant concerns” at the Blair County Prison, said Tom Weber, president of the facility’s medical service provider PrimeCare Medical.

In the last year, the prison is performing about 160 new intakes a month, with about 50 — or one-third — of those needing to be detoxed, he said.

“Those patients present a significant strain on staff in terms of maintaining their safety while (patients) withdraw from medications,” Weber said. “In terms of Medically Assisted Treatment, last year at this time, it was probably the most significant program going on in correctional health care.”

MAT places “a significant strain” on security and health care staff as well, due to their dual needs of having to make sure each patient gets their medication while also making sure the medication isn’t diverted or abused. Weber said the Blair County Prison averages about 40 patients a month on MAT, or about 20% of the overall prison population.

“In terms of mental health, we’ve heard that the county facilities have become the mental health treaters throughout the Commonwealth,” Weber said. “Blair County is no exception to that, and in fact, has somewhat more significant prevalence than in some of our other facilities to which we provide care.”

Weber said PrimeCare follows a rating system similar to the state Department of Corrections in terms of mental health status and stability that breaks individuals down into “A, B, C or D” categories. Inmates rated “D” are those suffering from schizophrenia, psychosis or are actively hurting themselves, “C-raters” are those who are actively receiving mental health treatment or have in the last two years, while “B-raters” haven’t had any mental health issues within the last two years.

The Blair County Prison averages about 27% “D-raters” and 55% “C-raters,” Weber said, “so you have over 80% of your facility that has a mental health need that is being addressed within the facility.”

When asked by prison board member and President Judge Wade A. Kagarise how these averages compare to PrimeCare’s overall average across its 86 total facilities, Weber said Blair County’s numbers are slightly above average. PrimeCare’s overall D-rater average is about 18-20% while its overall D- and C-rater average is about 70%, he said.

Prison board secretary A.C. Stickel said he knew the prison’s mental health population was “significant” but “had no idea” of its actual size.

“We closed all the mental health hospitals and now we put them in jail,” Stickel said. “As expensive as mental hospitals were, they were more productive and cheaper than this.”

Weber said the health care cost for correctional facilities is also “rather daunting” but reported savings exceeding $1.8 million over two years.

In 2023-24, Weber said the county was billed about $2.8 million for outside care, but “after we processed the claim, the actual expense was about $800,000.”

“For the last year, the outside care was $1.6 million, and we were able to reduce that again to $600,000 for a savings of about $1 million,” Weber said.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.