Brent Fox, director of corrections, told commissioners the county awarded the inmate medical-services contract to Medico (lowest bidder) after a competitive process prompted by performance and litigation concerns with the prior vendor, NafCare.

Fox said the county's current annual cost for jail medical services with NafCare was presented in the briefing materials and that Medico's proposed first-year cost is $4,000,827. "That's a 46% increase," Fox said. He added the county expects year‑over‑year price adjustments: years 2 and 3 at 3%, year 4 at 3.5% and year 5 at 4%.

Fox said one position in the contract will not be filled until the following year and that implementation of a Medicaid transformation program the county had been preparing for is paused until the new vendor is in place. When asked about timing, Fox said the county expects to restart that Medicaid effort and "go live in July '26" once the vendor and systems are in place.

Commissioners asked if staff reviewed the full five‑year proposals and how the county's contract terms compared to other jurisdictions; Fox said the selected firm has contracts in other Washington facilities though sizes and populations vary and cautioned that those peers are not always directly comparable.

Fox said the county's prosecuting attorney (Jason Loreen) and finance staff and the county risk pool participated in contract review. No formal procurement vote was recorded during the session; Fox said the contract and related documents were submitted with the agenda for action at the next business meeting.

Ending

County leaders said staff would provide the detailed contract documents and that some program rollouts are contingent on the vendor being onboarded. Commissioners indicated they may follow up with questions about comparisons and contract terms prior to final execution.