NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Wendelyn R. Pekich
Vice President of Marketing, Strategic Communication & Proposal Development
Wexford Health Sources, Inc.
Phone: 412-937-8590, extension 296
Fax: 412-937-8599
E-mail: info@wexfordhealth.com
Website: www.wexfordhealth.com
January 7, 2025 – Wexford Health is pleased to announce, as a result of the state’s competitive bid process, that the company was selected to continue to provide correctional medical services on behalf of the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD). Additionally, Wexford Health will expand its services to include behavioral health care, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, and MAT/MOUD (Medication Assisted Treatment—now often referred to as “MOUD” or “Medications for Opioid Use Disorder”) for the NMCD’s incarcerated population. The NMCD and Wexford Health recently finalized and executed a multi-term contract agreement.
“We have truly enjoyed working with the NMCD over the past five years,” said Wexford Health’s Corporate Vice President and Executive Operating Administrator Shannis Stock-Jones. “We look forward to our ongoing collaboration with the Department, providing the state of New Mexico with an exemplary correctional health care program, which now includes SUD, MAT/MOUD, and mental health treatment and care.”
Wexford Health and the NMCD have worked together over the past five years to provide the state’s prison population with a number of industry-leading health care programs. These programs have enabled incarcerated individuals to stay well, and return to their communities to become productive New Mexico citizens. Many of the programs not only save the state money, but also protect the safety of New Mexico neighborhoods, as they reduce the need for incarcerated individuals to visit community-based health care facilities.
- Partnership with UNM Project ECHO and the New Mexico Corrections Department on a Hepatitis C Elimination Project: Through this partnership, Wexford Health increased the number of patients receiving treatment for Hepatitis C by 200%, successfully treating more than 1,800 justice-involved individuals who will now return to their communities free from this deadly virus.
- HIV/AIDS care with the Christus St. Vincent Regional Health System: By operating HIV/AIDS clinics inside the New Mexico prisons, Wexford Health and St. Vincent clinicians provide quality in-person and telehealth care for justice-involved HIV/AIDS patients, as required by the U.S. Constitution. At the same time, our clinics save New Mexico taxpayer dollars, by providing medications at a significant savings, through a federal discount program.
- Onsite provision of IV antibiotic therapy: Rather than outsourcing IV therapy to an expensive home infusion company, Wexford Health trained our nursing staff to prepare and provide IV medications onsite at the New Mexico prisons.
- Partnership with the UNMH Milagro Program: Through this trendsetting program, Wexford Health provides specialized pre-natal care for justice-involved moms with substance use disorders and their innocent unborn babies. Health care staff from the Milagro program visit the prison facilities to provide care, resulting in less offsite transport of incarcerated individuals.
- Mobile prison-based mammography and ultrasound services: Wexford Health’s decision to make mobile mammography and ultrasound services available onsite at the prison facilities has removed barriers to care for justice-involved patients (52% increase in availability of services), and reduced the need for incarcerated individuals to visit community-based health care facilities by 56% (for mammography) and 22% (for ultrasound services).
- Immunization tracking and monitoring program with the New Mexico Department of Health: Wexford Health initiated a partnership through which the NMDH provides incarcerated individuals with standard vaccines, including those for COVID and influenza. The program supports overall public health, as justice-involved individuals return to their New Mexico communities vaccinated and less likely to carry communicable diseases.
For more than three decades, Wexford Health has supported correctional agencies across the nation by consistently delivering proven staffing expertise and a full range of medical, behavioral health, pharmacy, medications for opioid use disorder treatment, utilization management, provider contracting, claims processing, and quality management services. The Pittsburgh-based company helps governments, correctional facilities, and other institutions control correctional health care costs while maintaining quality of care.
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