The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has hired a new medical provider for inmates incarcerated at the county jail.

Sheriff Joe Roybal said in a news release Thursday that his office cut ties with the county’s former medical provider, Tennessee-based Wellpath, and on Jan. 1 began a new contract with Topeka, Kan.-based Vitalcore Health Strategies.

The contract totals more than $11 million in 2024, the release said.

Undersheriff Jeff Kramer previously told El Paso County commissioners during 2024 budget discussions the Sheriff’s Office needed $2.5 million more in its budget to cover the cost of the new contracted medical provider.

Data that Kramer previously presented showed the cost of providing care to inmates has increased steadily in recent years, climbing from less than $6 million to more than $11 million in 2024.

Vitalcore was founded in January 2015 as Viola Riggin LLC and rebranded as VitalCore in 2018. It “intentionally partnered” with the Sheriff’s Office “to provide continuity of information and expansion of services, to better serve” inmates’ needs, the release said.

The company is expected to provide medical, psychiatric and mental health services for inmates. El Paso County’s jail population totaled about 1,200 in October, according to figures Kramer previously provided.

“Unfortunately, the majority of those housed in our jail have prior existing undertreated or undiagnosed medical issues, such as drug addictions or chronic mental health issues, which require an extra level of care while in our custody. It was vital for us to find a medical provider who had the experience and capability to address these unique needs and adapt to our rapidly changing population,” Roybal, who has served as El Paso County sheriff for a year, said in the release.

The jail’s previous medical provider Wellpath provided services from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31.