Inmate's care tab breaks jail budget

Published: April 17, 2008

Mercado: Needs dialysis

Editor's Note: See the following article for developments in this story that transpired since the News-Register went to press.


By DAVID BATES
Of the News-Register



Until late last week, Gustavo Rogelio Mercado-Murillo's health insurance paid for his weekly kidney dialysis treatments. Now the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office pays for it.

Mercado was in Yamhill County Circuit Court on Wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of officials grappling with an unusual and expensive problem.

The 31-year-old McMinnville resident is charged with four counts of first-degree sodomy and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse in a case allegedly involving three boys under the age of 10. He lacks legal residency.
Given the severity of the charges against him, then, officials don't want to let him go.

"If we release this guy," said Yamhill County Sheriff Jack Crabtree, "he's going to split."

But they also don't want him to stay.

Three times a week, Mercado needs to be hooked up to a dialysis machine. That runs about $6,000 a week, not counting the cost of secure transportation to and from the Salem clinic.

The Yamhill County Jail provides medical service to inmates, but it's nothing fancy. In addition to keeping a doctor and several nurses on staff, the county budgets about $60,000 a year for dental care, psychiatric care, prescription drugs and hospital visits.

Mercado's care figures to run several times that all by itself.

Crabtree said he's not had a case like this since he was elected.

"I've never even imagined this," he said. "I'm geared up for a $50,000 heart attack, and that's about it. This guy goes through that in a month."

As the mothers of the victims choked back tears in the third row of Judge Ronald Stone's courtroom Wednesday, prosecutors said they were working with corrections officials and Mercado's attorney, Janmarie Dielschneider of McMinnville, on a way to get the defendant close to the clinic while still keeping him secure. That would cut the expense some.

Officials are talking with the Salem-based Stepping Out Ministries, which houses offenders working their way back into the community following incarceration. No juveniles are allowed on the site.

Spokesman Steve Silver said the facility controls 12,500 square feet of space in a former nursing home. Staff is on site 24 hours a day, although the doors are not locked.

Yamhill County Community Corrections Director Richard Sly said officials were considering "rigorous guidelines" under which Mercado could live there, which would include wearing a security bracelet and GPS monitoring.

That wouldn't solve the medical issue, but it would go a long way toward solving the transportation issue.

Crabtree said officials are considering a number of options, but they don't include any outright release.

Today, Crabtree said, Mercado is scheduled to undergo his fourth treatment on the county tab. He's due back Saturday, then Tuesday.

"Any time somebody goes to jail, they lose their insurance, and I'm on the hook for their medical bills," Crabtree said.

Stone said he'd give officials a couple more days to negotiate an agreement and hold another meeting on the issue Friday.

"Whatever we decide, we will decide Friday," he said. "I am inclined to do this if we can do it safely."

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