Alaska health care giant Providence Health and Services made overtures to the state about taking over management of the troubled Alaska Psychiatric Institute before a lucrative no-bid contract was awarded to Wellpath , a Tennessee-based company that sprouted from the private prison industry, a letter between hospital executives and lawmakers shows. In early February, Wellpath was awarded a roughly $43 million-per-year contract to operate API, the state’s only psychiatric hospital. State officials declared an emergency and circumvented the usual government procurement rules, saying the hospital was unsafe and about to lose federal funding. Ever since, questions about how the deal came together have dogged state health officials. Some lawmakers, like Rep. Ivy Spohnholz, an Anchorage Democrat, have asked why in-state providers like Providence were not considered. “Given that Providence has been operating in Alaska since 1902 and has a proven track record providing in-patient p...
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