The Wyoming Medical Center wants to ask Natrona County for more money to provide health care to prisoners, hospital officials said Thursday.

Medical expenses accrued by inmates and the number of involuntary commitments are increasing.

So it's time to renegotiate the $120,000 allocation - an amount set in 1995 - the county pays the hospital each year for prisoner care, said chief financial officer Nancy Brandt and other WMC officials at the monthly meeting of the board of trustees of the Memorial Hospital Board of Natrona County.

The hospital expects to give about $900,000 in prisoner care during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, Brandt said.

That's almost $200,000 more in prisoner care than given the previous fiscal year, Brandt told the board of trustees, which oversees the WMC's lease of Natrona County's hospital assets. The lease requires the WMC to maintain the value of county assets and to provide indigent and prisoner care.

The lease states, "Tenant agrees to assume all costs and expenses for services by Tenant in excess of $120,000 per fiscal year for prisoner medical care provided by the County."

Involuntary commitment issue has become a major issue, Natrona County attorney Eric Nelson said. "I used to see about one a week. Now I am averaging 15 to 20 a week."

This is in part due to a change in Wyoming law in 2006 clarifying the procedures for involuntary commitment, as well as population growth in Casper and the expansion to the county jail over the years, Nelson said.

Prisoner care in the 2007-2008 fiscal year will add about $780,000 to the hospital's charity care debt.

Steve Chadderdon, chairman of the WMC's board of directors, said the hospital already spoke with county commissioners about this issue.

They raised the issue at a recent meeting and the hospital is in the processing of determining a reasonable amount to ask for, Chadderdon said.

According to the lease, the hospital can renegotiate this amount every three years.

Several trustees wondered why it hadn't been addressed since 1995.

"If we are going to get close to coming even, it's going to be a huge jump," said trustee Pat Freiberg.

Chadderdon couldn't speak about why previous administrations had not addressed this, but the hospital would not be asking for an extra $780,000 from the county every year, he said.

The hospital realizes it has an obligation to provide indigent care, Chadderdon said, and the board will come up with an equitable amount.

The county can always deny the hospital's request, he said, and the hospital will continue to operate on what the county offers.

In other matters, the WMC announced its bond rating was upgraded from an A- to an A rating.

"This is very good news, especially with the volatile bond market," Brandt said.

This rating is based on the medical center's dominant market position, history of revenue and profitability and a confidence in the hospital's leadership, she said.

Board of trustees chairwoman Pat Thorson said it will be helpful if the hospital ever decides to finance a large expansion.

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 577-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.