After 16 years of partnership with the Cleveland County Detention Center, TK Health, formerly Turn Key Health Clinics, ended its contract with the jail on June 30 following years of complaints, failed health inspections and numerous deaths within the facility.
TK Health announced the decision in a letter on March 6, stating it would leave the jail at the end of the fiscal year. Cleveland County Board of Commissioners announced its contract with Redemption Correctional Healthcare Solutions as the new health care provider during a June 16 meeting.
In the contract between Cleveland County and Redemption, the company wrote it formed in February specifically to provide care at the detention center.
“The founders recognized that there has to be a better way to provide correctional healthcare,” the company wrote.
Comparing contracts
Both TK Health’s contract, which went into effect July 2023, and Redemption’s contract note expected staffing levels for the detention center, with Redemption expecting more staffing hours on site than TK Health.
Redemption’s contract states the company will have a paramedic on-site 24/7, while TK Health’s contract stated a paramedic or a licensed practical nurse would be on-site 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
In TK Health’s contract, a medical provider would be on-site a total of 18 hours a week, with no specified days the provider would be available. Redemption’s contract states that a medical provider will be on-site four hours a day Monday through Friday and available on weekends if needed.
TK Health offered an online psychiatry service for three hours on Thursdays, while Redemption plans to offer the service four hours a day, five days a week, with emergency availability on weekends.
An added responsibility in Redemption's contract states it will maintain a floor stock of prescription and over-the-counter medications to ensure inmates have “timely access” to medications. The contract also states Redemption is expected to meet inmate medication needs until prescriptions can be filled.
The new contract responsibility comes after a number of deaths in jails TK Health serviced resulted in lawsuits alleging the company failed to provide proper medication.
Redemption will also offer daily provider visits, with the company being expected to conduct sick calls and visits for health maintenance throughout each week. Redemption will also maintain a call schedule for weekends on an urgent or as-needed basis. If an inmate requests a sick call, the company is required to respond within 48 hours unless immediate action is necessary.
Redemption will receive a monthly reimbursement of $152,468 from the county, just over $22,000 more than the previous contractor.
According to its contract, TK Health’s monthly payment from the county was originally $125,055.34, until a June 2024 contract amendment raised its monthly reimbursement to $130,057.55.
The July 2024 amendment also outlined the county’s new security staffing expectations for TK Health.
“Efficient functioning of the medical program is dependent upon appropriate levels of security staffing,” the amendment reads. “The agency shall provide adequate security coverage for medical staff operating within the facility to ensure that medical staff are not left alone with inmates and to ensure that medical staff can complete their contracted functions.”
The amendment also states the detention center must notify the health care company if it cannot provide “adequate security coverage.”
TK Health in Cleveland County
The death of Jeffrey Brake, 61, marked the 11th in-custody death in the last three years for Cleveland County Detention Center. Brake suffered a medical emergency and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to a June 30 press release.
According to Sarah Schettler, Norman Police Department public information officer, Brake was under NPD custody and waiting to be booked at the detention center at the time of the medical emergency.
The 10th death happened in May, when Carl Douglas Kachel, 53, went into medical distress.
Several in-custody deaths at the detention center have resulted in lawsuits, most notably the one filed after Shannon Hanchett, known in Norman as the Cookie Queen, died in the jail in December 2022 of heart failure. A state medical examiner’s autopsy report revealed significant contributing factors of psychosis with auditory and visual hallucinations and severe dehydration.
Hanchett, who ran a bakery in downtown Norman, was arrested on a complaint of misdemeanor obstruction and false reporting. Friends of Hanchett said she appeared to be having a mental health crisis.
Another inmate died less than two weeks after Hanchett’s death.
In January 2024, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, TK Health and three medical professionals, alleging the defendants denied Hanchett of her constitutional rights while in custody, contributing to her death.
The lawsuit also claimed Hanchett was not administered any psychotropic medications as her mental health reportedly deteriorated rapidly while in custody. It was stated in the arrest report that Hanchett suffered from a mental health disorder. During booking, she told jail staff she suffered from bipolar disorder and lupus.
The suit was dismissed in August.
Following Hanchett’s death, TK Health proposed changes to its contract with the county in February 2023 to add two new positions, increase medical and mental health professional hours and raise its monthly rates by around $43,000.
The contract was amended a week later to confirm the proposed changes.
Other Cleveland County deaths that resulted in lawsuits include that of Terrance Osborne, 44, who died of congestive heart failure after nearly three weeks in the jail, KGOU reported. Osborne’s family filed a lawsuit in January 2023, claiming swelling in his face and legs left him unable to move, go to the bathroom or access food and medication in the days prior to his death.
In 2023, Norman City Council approved a $650,000 settlement to the estate of Marconia Kessee, who died in police custody in 2018 after being found unresponsive in his cell.
KGOU also reported TK Health had settled two lawsuits in 2014 under its former name, ESW Correctional Healthcare, filed by the families of Curtis Gene Pruett, who died in custody, and Lacee Danielle Marez, who fell into a coma under the company’s care.
Since 2022, the detention center has repeatedly failed unannounced inspections, with major complaints cited in inspection reports such as unsanitary living conditions and delayed access to hygiene products.
In February, KOCO reported the jail was facing repeated health violations following a report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Inspectors also claimed the jail did not notify the department when an inmate was seriously injured in January.
TK Health background, Oklahoma County services
Rep. Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City), who is currently campaigning for Oklahoma Attorney General, and his business partners founded TK Health as ESW Correctional Care in 2009 to provide nursing staff for the detention center, later shifting to become a medical provider for jails, according to Prison Legal News.
In June, TK Health announced its contract with Jefferson County Corrections Facility in Beaumont, Texas. The company now partners with about 150 jails in 13 states, according to the announcement.
In September, TK Health announced its departure from the Oklahoma County Detention Center in a letter to jail officials, as first reported by The Frontier. In the letter, the company said it was leaving due to a lack of staffing and new leadership at the jail, citing Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority as part of its reasoning. TK Health had been the medical contractor at the jail since 2018.
“Turn Key began its professional relationship with Oklahoma County under the direction of the former Sheriff,” TK Health CEO Flint Junod wrote. “However, since the (Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority) has taken over operations, Turn Key’s ability to see patients has deteriorated substantially.”
KOSU reported in June that the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority approved a formal review of the authority’s performance. The review comes after the jail failed its 11th consecutive health inspection since 2019, News 9 reported in May.
In September, The Frontier reported at least 45 deaths at the jail since the OCCJA took over jail operations from the county sheriff in 2020. The Frontier also reported at least 50 people under TK Health’s care have died in the past decade.
The investigation claims TK Health employees had, in multiple instances, failed to send inmates to the hospital when they were found to be in crisis, catatonic or refusing to eat or drink. The Frontier also stated TK Health restricted which medicines it would give inmates until last year, often withholding medications prescribed to inmates before their arrests.
Former Comanche County Sheriff Chris Pounds wrote in an email in July 2021 that an inmate diagnosed with schizophrenia arrived at the jail from a mental hospital on a Thursday with a list of prescriptions. Pounds wrote the inmate was seen by a nurse Friday morning, but his prescriptions were not filled.
A family member of the inmate contacted Pounds after receiving multiple phone calls from the inmate that raised concerns. Pounds wrote he investigated the situation and the prescriptions were filled and picked up that Saturday afternoon.
Lawsuits
In 2022, officials in Larimer County, Colorado, received bids submitted by TK Health that said the company had settled 13 lawsuits since its creation.
“To have only settled such a small number of claims in our thirteen-year history while serving a population that exceeds 19,000 inmates at nearly 80 operations is a record we are willing to put up against any of our competitors,” the document reads.
The Frontier reported a lawsuit filed by the family of Eusebio Castillo Rodriguez, who was jailed in June 2022 in Union County, Arkansas. The lawsuit claims he went untreated for five days for documented symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Rodriguez was eventually life-flighted to a larger hospital in Little Rock where he died.
In July 2023, a federal judge in Colorado denied TK Health’s request to dismiss a lawsuit against one of the company’s nurses. The lawsuit accused the nurse of refusing to call an ambulance for an inmate who later died in custody of drug toxicity, The Frontier reported.
In 2023, the husband of Brenda Jean Sanders filed a lawsuit against TK Health following his wife’s death in 2016 while under the care of TK Health, NonDoc reported. Sanders was booked into the Deer Creek jail in October 2016 and died November 21, 2016 after being transported to a hospital with sepsis, acute kidney injury and other conditions.
In investigating TK Health, The Frontier reported it reviewed over 100 lawsuits involving jail deaths and injuries, many of which were dismissed for not meeting legal requirements for civil rights lawsuits.
OU Daily reached out to Cleveland County and the sheriff’s office, but did not receive a response before the time of publication.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Natalie Armour. Ryan Little and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
