The medical provider for the Georgia prison system backed out of its contract with the Department of Corrections last year after incurring more than $30 million in unanticipated costs, most due to the rampant violence in the state’s prisons, records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.
Wellpath, based in Nashville, Tenn, provided no clues for its decision when it sent the state a notice of non-renewal in June, just two years into its contract. But emails between Wellpath and GDC officials give a detailed accounting of how the company’s trauma costs in Georgia were more than twice as high as those in the other states where it provides prison healthcare.