It was the fourth inmate death involving the jail this year. Each of the cases involved staffers who did not act with urgency when an inmate was in a medical crisis.

Page noted that the county was struggling to find adequate staffing and deliver high-quality medical care at the jail, and that jail workers deal with many prisoners who have drug dependencies and mental illness.

He said he had inspected the jail himself and asked the Clayton police to investigate whether there was a pattern of problems in the jail leading to inmate deaths. And he had initiated a regular meeting schedule and strengthened communications among the county’s chief medical officer, Clayton EMS and St. Mary’s Emergency Department director to coordinate care and share information in a timely manner. And he said the jail was looking or a doctor to work full time.

An accrediting agency had recently given the jail nearly perfect marks in an audit, he said, but the jail clearly had to do better.

“And we will do better,” he said. “Simply put, the Justice Center is not good enough. So, we’re continuing to look for improvements.”

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