BOSTON -- A Bristol County sheriff is asking the governor to send national guard medical specialists to his jails because the county can no longer afford to pay for health care for inmates, according to the Sun Chronicle of Attleboro.

Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said that the department already owes $1.4 million to Correctional Medical Care that it cannot afford to pay, and the company has warned that it will stop treating prisoners if the county cannot find funds.

The firm has not been paid since November, according to the Sun Chronicle.

Hodgson, who said Gov. Deval Patrick has not responded to his request yet, said that medical care is a vital component in prisons, where contagious diseases can spread quickly.

"I'm concerned for my staff and their families and the other inmates," he told the paper.

Bristol county Treasurer Kevin Finnerty said that he estimates the sheriff’s department will run out of money within the next two weeks. Hodgson, who has laid off 52 employees and stopped paying all bills to continue paying staff salaries, said the department is saddled with $2 million in debt overall.

Hodgson blamed the county’s diminished funding on a drop in revenue, including a decline in excise taxes on filing deeds and income from the federal government for housing detainees.

Cindy Roy, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Administration and Finance, said that Patrick has filed a bill that would move all county sheriffs under the authority of the state – a measure that qualify them for state funds. The bill has not passed, however, and Roy said that it is too soon for officials to consider sending in National Guard troops.