Cowlitz County awards five-year jail pharmacy contract; director says county pays for inmate prescriptions

Cowlitz County commissioners on Tuesday approved a five-year contract with Westwood Pharmacy to provide pharmaceutical services for the county corrections facility.

The chair described the contract as a five-year agreement that locks in prices with "no yearly increases," and said the contract resulted from a request for proposals that drew two bidders. "There's it's a 5 year contract, and we learned yesterday there's no yearly increases in in the price. So it'll stay the price for the full 5 years," the chair said.

During the consent-agenda discussion a community member asked how prescriptions are handled when someone enters county custody and whether outside insurance continues to pay. Brynn Fox, director of corrections, said county policy and practice place medical responsibility on the county once a person is booked. "When someone's, comes through our doors, their medical care becomes the responsibility of the county," Fox said, adding that county clinicians reevaluate prescriptions and that "if they're getting it in the community, they're gonna get it while they're here," with the county assuming cost responsibility unless private insurance applies.

County staff said the pharmacy contract structure lists common medications and a per-item price rather than a flat mark-up, and that this is how costs will be billed under the new five-year arrangement. Fox also confirmed that private insurance (which officials described as uncommon among people entering custody) may be billed when applicable.

The contract was included in the consent agenda and approved by the board without a separate roll-call vote being read into the record. The board adjourned to reconvene at 10:00 a.m. for the Board of Health meeting.