Prison Health Services, which has run jailhouse medical care on Stock Island, Marathon and Plantation Key since 1993, is among the five companies the Monroe County Sheriff's Office will choose from when it picks a 2010-11 health care provider no later than next Monday.

"Our focus on clinical quality, accountability, partnership and financial responsibility clearly makes PHS the vendor of choice," the company stated in its proposal to continue on with the Sheriff's Office.

This week's selection comes as Prison Health and the Sheriff's Office are expected to be named in a wrongful-death lawsuit that the family of deceased inmate Clayton Link has officially notified the Sheriff's Office that it will file. Link family attorney, David Baron, previously has said he would likely file the lawsuit in September.

Link, who was afflicted with epilepsy, had a seizure and drowned in the Stock Island sick bay on June 18, 2009, less than seven hours after he was admitted to the jailhouse.

Link, 26 at the time, was in a bathtub unsupervised although he had suffered repeated seizures over the course of his short detention, jailhouse records show.

A Citizen investigation published in March revealed that by leaving Link alone in the tub, Prison Health nursing staff failed to adhere to what medical professionals say are basic standards for tending to someone suffering seizures. PHS staff also placed Link in restraint that night, a fundamental error when it comes to seizure care.

This year marks the first time the MCSO has bid out its health care contract since 2003. Last week, the Sheriff's Office considered briefly extending the PHS contract so it could more thoroughly study whether the staffing plans in the submitted proposals meet accredited standards, Sheriff's Office attorney Mark Willis said. But an expert advised that the plans are fine.

The proposals vary in several ways on staffing matters, including how much the companies plan to rely on less-costly, but also less-trained, licensed practical nurses versus the more expensive and more highly trained registered nurses.

The night Link was admitted to the Stock Island Detention Center, only licensed practical nurses were on duty, records show.

Aside from PHS, companies vying for the jailhouse health care contract include Birmingham, Ala.-based NaphCare Inc., Georgia-based Correct Health, Colorado-based Correctional Health Care Companies and Miami-based Armor Correctional Health Services Inc.

After a provider is chosen, contract negotiations are expected to continue until Sept. 3.

Under the current contract, the Sheriff's Office is to pay PHS $2.63 million this year. The contract is structured so that PHS takes its profit from the portion of that money that it does not spend, creating a potential reverse incentive when it comes to the maintenance of care.

Willis acknowledges that concern, and said that for next year the Sheriff's Office is considering either alternative payment approaches or increased monitoring to prevent contractors from cutting corners.

"We're thinking and pondering," he said.

The new contract is scheduled to commence on the Oct. 1 beginning of the fiscal year.

rsilk@keysnews.com