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Brown County approves jail telehealth contract and several routine county actions
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Summary
Commissioners approved a contract to add telehealth and electronic MARS services for the county jail, heard about intercounty jail housing talks and moved routine consent items including a weed-and-pest grant and payroll/claims; officials said the telehealth service will provide 24/7 nurse-practitioner coverage by telemedicine. (Short)
Brown County commissioners voted to approve a contract to add telehealth and electronic medication-administration records (eMAR) services for the county jail, following a presentation from Dave Martin, who described a multi-year effort to find an affordable, reliable medical services solution for 24/7 coverage.
Martin told the commission the county had implemented telehealth and electronic MARS components and that the proposed Modern Day Health contract would provide round-the-clock clinician coverage through a network of providers. “Most of those answering the phones are nurse practitioners,” Martin said, noting the arrangement would reduce risk when the jail’s on-site nurse is absent and that the county pays a per-bed, per-month fee.
The commission also discussed an inter-county contract to help relieve jail population pressure from neighboring counties; that item was presented as a standard contract for future use. By voice votes, commissioners carried motions on the Davidson County contract procedural approval, the Modern Day Health telehealth arrangement, a weed-and-pest grant authorization and routine consent items including minutes, claims/payroll, HR and travel requests.
Why it matters: County jail operations are costly and staff-intensive; commissioners described the telehealth contract as a cost-effective way to ensure continuity of care and to reduce risk when on-site nurses are unavailable. The telehealth contract was described as already integrated with the county’s eMARS system and telehealth platform.
Gene Lehi, Director of Equalization, also briefed the board on the upcoming county and consolidated valuation meetings, noting an increase in exemption applications under revised state criteria that will affect the schedule for hearings and appeals.
Next steps: County staff will finalize contract documents and continue intergovernmental communication about jail housing options; the board scheduled its usual follow-ups and flagged the Richmond Lake dam discussion as a subject requiring additional public meetings and research on jurisdictional authority.
