A skilled nursing facility first approved in 2018 will soon be under construction near the Fulton Medical Center.
With 150 beds, the CorrectLife Fulton facility will offer assisted living to medically fragile parolees, inmates eligible for parole. Contractors began clearing land on the property earlier this month.
According to a building permit application filed with the City of Fulton, the building will be 78,000 square feet and valued at about $17 million. A site plan shows a second, 61,200 square foot structure on the same site, labeled as "Phase 2." It'll be owned by CorrectLife Holdings, a limited liability company established in Georgia in 2018, according to filings with the Missouri Secretary of State.
"As an economic development person, we love to see those jobs coming to Fulton," said Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell. "That's a lot of good-paying jobs."
CorrectLife, a company founded by Dr. Carlo A. Musso, already operates the similar Bostick Nursing Center in Milledgeville, Georgia. The 280-bed facility opened in 2016. That facility also offers care to inmates with mental and behavioral health issues.
Another company owned by Musso, CorrectHealth, provides healthcare for dozens of Georgia prisons, according to the Macon Telegraph. Through another of his companies, Rainbow Medical Associates, Musso also supervised and participated in the Georgia Department of Corrections' executions between 2003 and around 2016, the Telegraph reported.
Calls placed to CorrectLife, CorrectHealth and a CorrectLife representative seeking comment on the new facility were unanswered.
In addition to receiving local permits, new medical facilities in Missouri must seek the approval of the Health Facilities Review Committee, which approves certificate of needs requests in the state. The HFRC approved CorrectLife's Application in September, 2018, when construction costs were estimated at $18.5 million.
Cannell's predecessor Leroy Benton penned a letter in support of CorrectLife to the HRFC at the time, describing the facility as a "unique opportunity for Missouri to reduce costs." He explained that healthcare costs incurred by individuals in Missouri's prisons must be paid by the state - costs that the state could avoid by moving those inmates to facilities like CorrectLife.
The CorrectLife website claims, without a citation, that medically fragile inmates make up 1 percent of Georgia's prison population but incur 20 percent of the prison system's healthcare costs.
How patients' care would be funded is unclear - CorrectLife's website offers no specifics about payment.
Missouri Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe also wrote letters of support to the committee.
CorrectLife's Certificate of Need proposal stated the facility would have multiple wards for patients with different needs, such as those with Alzheimer's disease. It will be secure, monitored by security cameras and requiring a fingerprint to enter or leave the facility.
Moving ahead
Tamara Tateosian, executive director of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce, said she's been in contact with CorrectLife since the company first reached out back in 2018. She and former Chamber economic development director Bruce Hackmann also voiced support for the facility to HFRC at CorrectLife's request, she said.
She said CorrectLife saw Fulton as a good fit due to the Missouri Department of Corrections infrastructure already present in town. Hackmann helped CorrectLife find the 11.4-acre land parcel on which the facility will be constructed.
"We're excited to see the land starting to clear, and about the 150 new jobs with this project," Tateosian said Tuesday. "We think it'll be a good win for the community. (And) I think it's a good model; it'll be the first (facility) of its kind in the state of Missouri."
Tateosian said CorrectLife's construction plans were delayed until now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cannell, elected mayor of Fulton in 2019, said he hasn't heard from CorrectLife or its representatives in his time as mayor. Fulton's Planning & Protective Services Director Dennis Houchins also said he hasn't been in direct contact with CorrectLife, though he and the engineering department have worked with CorrectLife's contractor (HBD) and architect (Gray Design Group) during the permitting process. HBD, based in St. Louis, specializes in constructing senior living and medical facilities.
Cannell voiced concern Fulton won't have enough specialized workers to fill CorrectLife's needs. The company has "immediate openings" in almost every healthcare discipline and is seeking registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, medical records clerks and more, according to the company's website - though a link to apply to CorrectLife jobs leads to a dead end.
Overall, however, the mayor was excited to see CorrectLife's construction begin and felt it'd fit well with the other facilities already in operation in town.
"I do think it's a good think for Fulton," he said. "Having the (Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center) here, those folks that are aging and are working their way through that system would potentially need a place to go for their long-term healthcare. The Fulton State Hospital, their aging population might find a home there at some time."