Changes to the Fulton State Hospital will result in a major change for the Callaway County Jail.
With a new hospital (expected to be completed early 2018), Fulton State Hospital dietary services won't continue supplying the Callaway County Jail with meals. Currently, the hospital provides 300 meals per day to the county jail, according to Debra Walker, a spokesman with the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
"Building capacity in our dietary department to meet those needs is not within the scope of our project," Walker said in an email.
The Callaway County Commission has met with two food service providers, Western District Commissioner Doc Kritzer said, to discuss the county's options. The hospital will cut off supply in June 2015.
No kitchen equipment exists at the Callaway County Jail, and a walk-in refrigerator, walk-in freezer, stoves and more will need to be purchased. Kritzer said equipment and modifications to the jail to make space for food preparation could cost between $50,000-$75,000.
The commission expects bids to be in by Nov. 1, and Kritzer said they anticipate making a decision by the second quarter in March or April. Commissioners have also requested input from county jails in Montgomery, Cole, Boone, Warren and Laclede as they proceed.
They will need to decide how many hot meals the jail will provide its inmates. The same three hot meals served to Fulton State Hospital clients are also given to inmates.
Kritzer said the county can save money by serving either two hot meals and one cold meal, or two cold meals and one hot meal. Cold meals - like cereal and sandwiches - only need assembly and don't require preparation from a cook. He was unsure how much the county spends on meals from the state hospital.
Kritzer said the commission would like the cook (or cooks) to work a continuous shift - either starting in the morning with breakfast cooking hot breakfast and lunch, or starting in the afternoon with lunch cooking hot lunch and dinner. Each inmate's calorie intake will total to 2,800 daily.
State law requires the jail to feed inmates within 14 hours of the previous meal, Kritzer said.