Additional reading: At the Oklahoma County jail, a lack of staff means security checks often get skipped

This story was updated Tuesday, Sept. 10 with new developments

Turn Key Health Clinics will leave the Oklahoma County Detention Center in 30 days, the company said in a letter to jail officials Tuesday. The announcement came one day after the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority approved a new contract with the company and laid the groundwork to eventually find a different medical provider. 

“The reason for Turn Key’s termination is that due to chronic, severe and well documented understaffing on the part of the OCCJA to provide sufficient staffing levels of security personnel, Turn Key’s health care providers are unable to access patients as necessary to meet Turn Key’s standard of care,” the company’s letter said. 

Turn Key’s ability to see patients “has deteriorated substantially” since the Criminal Justice Authority took control of the jail from the Oklahoma County Sheriff in 2020, the letter said. 

“This correctional personnel understaffing constitutes a breach of the Trust’s contractual obligations,” the letter said. 

Turn Key’s departure “necessitates a swift and strategic response to ensure that high-quality healthcare services continue without interruption for the incarcerated individuals in our care,” jail officials said in a statement. 

“We understand the critical importance of consistent and reliable healthcare services for those in our custody, Jail CEO Brandi Garner said. “Our top priority is to maintain the health and safety of our residents, and we are committed to finding a new provider that shares our dedication to delivering high standards of care.” 

Turn Key has been in ongoing talks with Oklahoma County jail officials about staffing concerns, Kenna Griffin, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to The Frontier. 

“In fact, as recently as Aug. 30, our providers advised us once again that there was insufficient security staff for providers to see patients at the jail. We can’t provide the quality of care we expect from our team if we can’t access patients in need,” Griffin said. “We planned to continue staffing discussions and expressing our concerns under our new contract with OCCJA, but it’s become clear to us that this is no longer a viable partnership.” 

The county’s contract with Turn Key expired at the end of June, but the company had continued to provide medical care to jail detainees on a month-to-month basis. 

“The jail trust requested a month-by-month contract. However, Turn Key doesn’t offer monthly contracts. Our contracts are annual because providing a month-by-month contract would jeopardize our ability to provide the consistent staffing necessary for quality care,” Griffin said. “OCCJA was supposed to act on our contract in July, then again in August. They did not. Despite this concern, we continued operating in good faith to ensure uninterrupted patient care at the Oklahoma County Detention Center.” 

Oct. 9 will be Turn Key’s last day on site at the Oklahoma County jail, Griffin said. 

The Oklahoma County jail trust approved a 1-year, $7.4-million deal with Turn Key on Monday after the company said it would end service in a matter of days without a new contract. 

The jail trust also approved plans on Monday to seek bids from other medical providers and hire a health care consultant. Jail officials discussed seeking an early end to the Turn Key contract at the meeting, but said a bidding process to find a new provider probably couldn’t be completed in 30 days. 

The Frontier and The Marshall Project published an investigation in July examining Turn Key policies and practices that have endangered people in jail. The investigation found that Turn Key employees didn’t send people to the hospital in dozens of cases when they were in crisis, catatonic or refusing to eat or drink.  The investigation also found the company staffed mental health and other medical positions with low-level nursing assistants trained to perform basic tasks like taking vital signs, but not to diagnose or assess medical conditions. 

Oklahoma County Commissioner and Jail Trust Member Myles Davidson said at the meeting that he wanted to consider other health care options, but was concerned that jail detainees would be left “high and dry” if Turn Key left the facility because the board didn’t approve the new contract. 

“I don’t think anybody up here says that we can’t do better, because we can do better,” Davidson said. 

Turn Key notified jail officials in August that the company would leave Oklahoma County by Thursday if it hadn’t secured a new contract, Garner told trust members at the meeting.

Garner urged board members on Monday to approve the contract or face being left without any other medical care at the jail while seeking a new provider.

The Rev. Derrick Scobey was the only board member present who voted against approving the Turn Key contract. Scobey also unsuccessfully urged other board members to reject the deal. He said he would like the jail trust to hire its own doctor and nurses instead of working with another for-profit jail medical company. 

“I’m really tired of entities trying to push us and bully us around,” Scobey said. 

Members of the public also spoke at the meeting in favor of rejecting the Turn Key contract. 

Jodie Poplin, the mother of a woman incarcerated at the Oklahoma County jail, said her daughter has not received adequate access to mental health care and medications.

“You do need to reconsider who you’re hiring,” Poplin told board members. “You need real doctors, a real mental health doctor.” 

At least 45 people have died at the jail since the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took over operations from the county sheriff in 2020. 

Turn Key has been the medical contractor at the Oklahoma County jail since 2018.