Some county leaders cited concerns over quality of care for detainees and liability.
By Jenny Berg Star Tribune
A growing number of Minnesota counties are cutting ties with Sartell-based MEnD Correctional Care, citing concerns over unprovided services and potential legal liability after a state board suspended its owner’s medical license.
Anoka County is the latest to drop the correctional facility health care provider and will switch Monday to Tennessee-based Advanced Correctional Healthcare (ACH).
“Anoka County regularly reviews vendors with whom we contract and if found they’re failing to fulfill contractual obligations, we evaluate all available options,” Erik Thorson, county communications director, said in an e-mail to the Star Tribune.
In January, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice suspended Dr. Todd Leonard’s medical license effective March 1 for “a careless disregard for the health, welfare and safety of his patient.”
According to the board, the lapses in care led to the death of Hardel Sherrell, an inmate at Beltrami County jail, in 2018. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the man’s family in federal court is pending.
Leonard did not respond to a request for comment about the counties ending contracts with his company. But in a statement released by his attorney in January after his license was suspended, he said he was “profoundly saddened and disappointed” by the board’s decision.
Leonard was also sued by the family of a Sherburne County inmate who died by suicide in 2017; that case was settled in 2021 with the county and MEnD agreeing to pay $2.3 million to the man’s family.
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