The Monroe County Sheriff's Office renewed a contract with PrimeCare Medical Inc. less than two months after a scathing state review blamed the company for the 2023 preventable death of an inmate.
The report by the New York State Commission of Correction directed the Monroe County Legislature to evaluate whether PrimeCare Medical was fit to continue as the jail's contracted medical provider.
The state report was published Dec. 17, 2025. Less than two months later, on Feb. 4, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter signed a $13.5 million contract renewal with PrimeCare Medical, extending services for another year, county records show.
A fitness inquiry was never completed; it has not even been started.
Monroe County Legislature delayed state-ordered review after inmate death
Monroe County Legislature President Yversha Roman,
who is tasked with leading the county's review, said the state did not impose a timeline around the inquiry. It will happen, according to Roman, but she could not say when.
A spokesperson for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said they could not comment on the case because of pending litigation. They did not respond to additional questions specific to the timing and decision around the contract renewal.
The original PrimeCare contract, executed in 2022, authorized the sheriff's office to pursue two single-year renewals without further approval from county legislators. The 2026 contract was the first of those optional extensions. The sheriff can pursue a second when the current contract expires in January 2027. Then, it will bounce back to the Legislature for approval in early 2028.
"I was waiting until the time in which the Legislature had the purview of continuing the contract," Roman said about the inquiry. "I continue to have conversations with legal in regard to next steps."
But she admitted the Legislature does not have to wait for the renewal cycle to expire before it can take action.
"We can have conversations in the meantime," Roman said.
State report ruled Monroe County Jail inmate's death was preventable
The state report found PrimeCare medical staff neglected to pursue crucial tests and basic hospital interventions when 62-year-old Brian Harmon was suffering from a urinary tract infection and obstructed bladder in late September 2023. After nine days of escalating symptoms, Harmon was found dead in his jail cell.
The state's investigation ruled Harmon's death would have been prevented with proper care. His family has filed a wrongful death claim against Monroe County and PrimeCare Medical. The Democrat and Chronicle first reported the lawsuit earlier this month.
In an Aug. 12 letter to Baxter, Roman and county attorney Matthew Schwartz, Legislator Rachel Barnhart cited the D&C's reporting and asked how the contract renewal was approved without the Legislature's review.
"I don't think any one office is solely responsible for how this fell through the cracks," Barnhart wrote. "I'd like to understand what happened so we can make sure it doesn't happen again, and more importantly, I'd like us to do the review now. A fitness inquiry conducted late is still worth doing, both because PrimeCare Medical may seek another renewal and because the public deserves to know this office took the Commission's findings seriously, even belatedly."
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Monroe County renewed PrimeCare contract after inmate died | Exclusive
