QUICK TAKE

All about dialysis Dialysis is the process of cleaning the blood artificially with special equipment. Patients need dialysis when they have developed end-stage kidney failure.   In Michigan, there were 11,002 dialysis patients as of Dec. 31, 2004.   In Genesee County, there were 802 dialysis patients as of the same date.     Source: National Kidney Foundation

GENESEE COUNTY - So many county jail inmates are being ferried to dialysis treatments that Sheriff Robert J. Pickell might start bringing the medical care behind bars.

Inmates were taken out of jail on 96 trips for dialysis in 2005, costing the county most of the work shift of one or two deputies each time.

Pickell said it adds to the cost of running his department as well as raising the chance of an escape attempt.

"It kills us on overtime," Pickell said. Inmates who need it "are in dialysis quite a bit, and it's not at our convenience."

The sheriff plans to talk about his in-jail dialysis idea in coming weeks but already has mentioned it during talks with the county Board of Commissioners concerning this year's budget.

For years, overtime spending by the sheriff's department has been worrisome for commissioners, Pickell and his predecessors. County offices overspent their budgets by about $866,000 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 and overtime was one of the primary reasons for the cost.

"We think we have enough room in the jail. We think it's doable," Pickell said of the dialysis idea.

The county contracts with Prison Health Services of Brentwood, Tenn., to manage medical, mental health and dental services at the jail. But Pickell said adding dialysis would require a new contract with another company with that specialty.

It's not known how expensive a proposition that would be, but Pickell said the savings could be considerable.

He isn't the first jail administrator to think so.

State prisons in Jackson and Detroit have on-site inmate dialysis, said Maurie Ferriter, director of programs and services for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.

Ferriter said there are about 800 dialysis patients in the county and most require the treatment three times weekly, with each session lasting about four hours.

County board Chairman Richard E. Hammel said he's interested in talking about any proposal that can save the county money.

The cost of all health care is "killing us and every year it gets to be more and more," Hammel said.

Pickell agrees. The county spends more than $1 million annually on health care for inmates, he said.

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