Corrections Department director Jon Ozmint said Thursday he decided against privatizing health care for the state’s prisons, after about two months of negotiations failed to produce potential savings.

The idea of reducing prison medical costs by privatizing services was first floated in budget hearings a year ago. It had the backing of Gov. Mark Sanford, but was opposed by a number of prison workers and legislators.

Opponents were concerned that a private company wouldn’t be able to provide the necessary care for inmates for the same amount of money the state spends. Ozmint maintained that standards of care under a private contractor would remain the same.

“We were not able, despite a great deal of effort and negotiations over two months, to get a contract that we believed offered a sufficient level of savings and guaranteed those savings to justify changing from the state system to a private system,” Ozmint said.

The Corrections Department spends about $2,500 per inmate each year for medical expenses, Ozmint said, but would not say what figures the private companies offered. He said the two sides were very close, although “they weren’t willing to get down to the numbers we needed.”

The decision was reached late Wednesday, Ozmint said.

Sanford will continue to seek ways to cut costs, spokesman Will Folks said.

“This governor is going to continue to explore new ideas that could produce a better product at a better price for the taxpayers of this state,” Folks said.

Opponents of privatization Thursday were pleased at the news.

“I think that’s wonderful. They have finally seen the light,” said Janet Lynam, member of Citizens Asking for Effective Government.

Her group was working with legislators, employees and some inmates’ families to file a lawsuit to stop Ozmint from negotiating with private health care providers until a study on the issue is complete.

A budget proviso requires the state to study the issue of privatization before implementing any contracts.

Ozmint interpreted the proviso to mean he could negotiate while the study was being done, but opponents said he was circumventing the law.

State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, has said the suit seeks to stop negotiations until the study is complete and to invalidate all negotiations that have taken place. It also would require the state to issue another request for proposals if the study finds privatization is the best option.

Leventis said he was delighted the agency rejected privatization but was “concerned because the director just flouted the law in doing the negotiations” and ignored the concerns of his employees. He said the study being conducted, which is expected to be completed within two weeks, would have answered Ozmint’s questions.

Lynam said Thursday the group will have to make a decision on the lawsuit. The group planned to hold a news conference this morning.

Ozmint said the opposition and lawsuit threat played no role in his decision.

Folks said the lawsuit threat was “election-year posturing” and “pretty much a joke.”