An inmate at Schuylkill County Prison died in January, according to the medical report for that month.

Medical care of the inmates is overseen by Prime Care Medical Inc., in Harrisburg. The death was reported as part of the information submitted by the company during a prison board meeting Wednesday.

After the meeting, Prison Warden Eugene Berdanier said he could not comment on the inmate death, including whether the inmate was male or female, or the date or cause of the death. He said the matter was under investigation.

County Commissioners’ Chairman George Halcovage said that Prime Care has been handling medical care of inmates for at least 10 years and as a company has been “very responsive and providing excellent care.”

“The well-being of inmates and staff is taken very seriously,” Halcovage said. “It is extremely important to everyone.”

Nearby county correctional facilities have reported inmate deaths in past years — one in Monroe County in February 2019, and one in Carbon County in October 2015. Inmates have also passed away while incarcerated at local state prisons, including SCI Mahanoy (one in 2018 and one in 2019) and SCI-Frackville (in 2011).

The Schuylkill County Prison staff has been plagued with both staffing and inmate overpopulation issues. Last week, two corrections officers were fired; during January, two corrections’ officers resigned, and one was fired. In 2019, three corrections’ officers were fired.

When at full staff, the prison has 45 full-time officers and 15 part-time officers. During the prison board meeting Wednesday, eight part-time officers were hired, leaving openings for one lieutenant, one full-time corrections officer, and 4 part-time corrections officers.

The eight part-time corrections officers hired are Eric Engle, Ryan Haines, Curtis Westcoat, John Cray, Jessica James, Francisco Rodriquez, Virginia Medina and Robert Haller.

As of Wednesday, the inmate population was 278, which includes 222 men and 58 women. The average population for January was 266, which included 214 men and 52 women. Currently 78 inmates are housed in other county prisons to reduce overcrowding.