register |  login
› CASTLE ROCK
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

Lieutenant receives award from county

Contributed by: Douglas County Sheriffs Office on 8/16/2007

Douglas County Sheriff David A. Weaver was pleased to announce and
present Lieutenant Kevin Duffy with the Creativity & Innovation Award.

Douglas County encourages all employees to generate creative and innovative ideas that improve the delivery of services.

The Creativity & Innovation Award recognizes employees who make significant contribution to the improved operations of Douglas County by developing creative and innovative ideas that:

· Save employee and customer time
· Save taxpayer money
· Improve operational safety
· Improve operational efficiencies

Lieutenant Duffy, who is the Patrol Administrative Lieutenant, has been with the department since 1988. He was nominated for this award by Bureau Chief Holly Nicholson Kluth.

In her nomination, Chief Nicholson Kluth stated the following:

In 2004, Lt. Duffy, while working in the detention division, started seeing an increase in costs to the sheriff's office from medical clearances and medical treatment of arrestees. He researched the statute and found that it states that an arrestee is responsible for their own medical cost for any condition that was either self inflicted or perexisting.

However, due to the fact that hospitals did not question arrestee's, they simply put the DCSO as the responsible person for payment for all arrestees. Since they didn't request billing or insurance information from the arrestee they billed the sheriff's office.

In 2005, the sheriff's office budget was $18,000 for arrestee medical costs. That year, the patrol division incurred just under $30,000 in medical bills. After being transferred to patrol, Lt. Duffy took this information and developed a form which he implemented.

The form was given to all patrol deputies and direction was given that they were to fill it out and give it to the hospital staff on all arrestees that were treated for something selfinflicted, preexisting or caused by the sheriff's office. The form listed allowed the hospital to have the correct information in order to directly bill the arrestee or responsible party.

This form was implemented in the spring of 2006 and medical bills came down
from just over $16,500 that year. So far in 2007, medical costs incurred have been just under $4,000. Lt. Duffy's innovation saved Douglas County and taxpayers from paying for preexisting illnesses and injuries.

Taxpayers should not have to pay for a person's medical treatment just because they were arrested.

"This award shows the quality of people that work for Douglas County. I am extremely proud to have Lt. Duffy work for me, he should be a good role model for those that have great ideas but have not yet presented them", stated Sheriff Weaver.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Current Rating
Based on 2 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos