Floyd County approves sheriff’s jail health‑care contract amendment, contingent on attorney sign‑off

Floyd County commissioners voted to approve an amendment to the sheriff’s jail medical contract that holds late‑year reimbursement rates steady and adds 24/7 nursing coverage as a replacement for hospital blood draws. Sheriff Steve Bush said Baptist Health will “no longer do blood draws” beginning in February and the amendment includes an extra 84 nursing hours to provide night coverage and training.

Bush told the board the amendment was presented in two parts: a clarification that contract reimbursements remain static for September through December, and changes to reflect Baptist Health’s withdrawal from blood‑draw services. He said the additional nursing hours were budgeted to ensure continuity of care and jail operations.

Commissioner (Speaker 2) moved to approve the contract amendment “based on Rick Fox’s approval”; Speaker 1 seconded. Bush asked that county attorney Rick Fox review the contract and circulate an approval email so commissioners could sign off after the meeting. Commissioners voted in favor.

During discussion, Speaker 2 warned that charging outside agencies for blood draws could discourage some agencies from seeking blood draws and raised a potential public‑safety concern. Bush acknowledged that the pricing and inter‑agency payment arrangements still needed discussion and said prosecutors and other agencies had been part of prior conversations about who would pay for draws.

Next steps: the sheriff’s office will send the contract to the county attorney for review and the board will finalize signatures by email once legal approval is received. No dollar amount for the contract amendment was given in the discussion.