MetroHealth to Continue Delivering Medical Care Inside County Jail

On October 27, the Cuyahoga County Council approved a new three-year contract with The MetroHealth System to continue providing healthcare services inside the county jail.

The contract runs from November 1, 2026, through October 31, 2029, with two one-year options that could extend the contract term through October 31, 2031. The agreement ensures that individuals inside the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center will continue to receive the care and services mandated by state and federal laws.

“Providing the best possible care to all members of our community, especially the most vulnerable, has always been the core of MetroHealth’s mission,” said Christine Alexander-Rager, MD, MetroHealth’s President and CEO. “While the jail can be a challenging environment, our Correctional Medicine team steps up every day to deliver critical care and services where they’re needed most. We are grateful to the county for their continued trust and partnership.”

“MetroHealth has been a longstanding partner at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center providing quality healthcare, addiction treatment and mental health support to individuals in the County’s custody,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. “I am grateful that County Council has approved the new contract, and we look forward to continuing this partnership to ensure the health and well-being of everyone in our care with our public hospital system.”

The new agreement strengthens a partnership forged after 2018, when troubling conditions inside the facility received national media attention. In a scathing report that year, the U.S. Marshals labeled jail conditions “inhumane” and the medical program “inadequate.”

Since taking over medical operations in the jail in 2019, MetroHealth has transformed healthcare in the facility by:

• Enabling the county jail to achieve formal accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, the highest standard in the field. Achieving NCCHC accreditation requires meeting rigorous national benchmarks for quality, safety, privacy and governance in a correctional setting.
• Expanding access to care. MetroHealth’s Correctional Medicine team provides 24/7 comprehensive health screenings at booking and performs more than 1,000 primary care and sick call visits each month.
• Increasing staffing. MetroHealth has added doctors, nurses and other caregivers, so staffing is at appropriate levels to support comprehensive on-site care.
• Expanding services inside the jail that keep patients and our community safe, including comprehensive behavioral health services and addiction treatment. Roughly 70% of the jail’s population struggles with mental health issues.
• Providing full on-site services. The team operates a 7-day-a-week on-site pharmacy managing medications for up to 1,300 patients daily, as well as 5-day-a-week dental services.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, MetroHealth and county officials worked together to quickly lower the jail population and expand testing, contract-tracing and isolation to prevent the type of widespread outbreak that hit many correctional facilities across the nation. The quick action and partnership saved countless lives and was lauded as a “national model” for care during the crisis.

“With this new contract, MetroHealth will continue to provide the highest quality medical care for our inmates,” said Dale Miller, President of Cuyahoga County Council. “Thank you to MetroHealth's caregivers for their service and major contribution to the well-being of our community.”

“The correctional-medicine partnership between MetroHealth and Cuyahoga County has been a success story that has benefited everyone in Greater Cleveland,” said Dr. Alexander-Rager. “We are honored to be able to continue providing this vital service to our community.”