Sheriff Staly Terminates Contract With Inmate Health Care Provider

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Sheriff Staly Speaking At Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Center

Bunnell, FL - The Flagler County Sheriff has announced his organization will split ways with their inmate health care provider and implement some new changes at their jail.

Almost two weeks ago (February 10th), 23-year-old Anthony Fennick, an inmate at Flagler County Jail, passed away after becoming brain dead following a medical episode.

After his death, the Flagler Could Sheriff's Office announced that they were launching an investigation into their staff and the staff of their inmate health care provider, Armor Correctional Medical Services.

Then today (February 22nd), Sheriff Staly made an address at the Flagler County Jail, offering an update to the ongoing investigation regarding Fennick's death and Armor.

"As Sheriff, I accept full responsibility," said Staly. "Today, I directed my General Counsel to notify Armor that we are terminating their contract."

The terms of their contract show that Armor requires a 90-day notice when terminating services, meaning that Armor will provide health care at Flagler County Jail until June 1st.

"In response to this tragedy, Armor has shown little interest in anything other than denying responsibility and trying to bill us for even more money," said Staly.

Staly has since issued a request for proposals regarding a new inmate medical services program.

According to Staly, Armor, which received praise from 19 other Sheriff's including Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood and St. John's County Sheriff David Shoar, was contracted by FCSO in February 2018 in the hopes of getting 24-hour care at their facility.

While Sheriff Mike Chitwood praised Armor initially, controversy still followed the company in Volusia County.

In August of 2018, Volusia replaced Armor with Centurion Detention Health Services after lawsuits were filed against Armor for their care of Volusia inmates as well as 12 suicides that occurred at the county jail since 2013.

Staly also noted in his address that changes will be coming to the jail, along with whatever new service provider they hire.

Those changes include new signage to inmate housing instructing inmates to report medical or other concerns to jail personnel for themselves or other inmates. A hotline phone number will also be available for inmate medical concerns.

Another important change that will come is if an inmate is transported to the hospital for a critical emergency, the family or listen emergency contact will be notified.

Staly said in some non-critical cases, families and emergency contacts were notified as it presented a security threat, offering a "chance to escape."

"I'm not going back to the old system that was in place when I became Sheriff, using part-time paramedics handing out medication," said Staly. "I, as your Sheriff, and this agency, along with our medical providers will work hard to prevent another tragedy from occurring."

Several investigations are still underway, according to Staly, and the medical examiner will not have Fennick's cause of death for another 60 to 90 days.

“To the Fennick family, I am very sorry,” Sheriff Staly said. “I can’t bring Anthony back but I can work to prevent another family from ever experiencing the loss of a loved one in our custody. The changes I am making are important and significant and consistent with my ongoing efforts to continually improve and make your Sheriff’s Office the best it can be.”

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