The Board of Island County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $284,460, one-year contract with North End Medical Professional Corp., of Oak Harbor, to provide medical services to the county’s jail and juvenile center.
The contract marks the first time the medical-services provider has been obliged to report directly to county officials, said Commissioner Richard Hannold. The contract requires a year-end annual report submitted to the Sheriff’s Office and the presiding judge of the Superior Court.
“This is a new model for the delivery of services, one that has been successful in other counties,” Hannold said during the weekly commissioners’ meeting.
In other actions, the board voted to approve measures to improve bicycle and pedestrian flow in Clinton.
It approved a $50,000, six-month assessment by the Port of Coupeville of the town wharf’s physical condition and a possible expansion of its services. The money will come from a sales-tax fund. More than 30 pilings supporting the wharf needed serious repair or replacement as of December 2014, the port said in a report. The study aims to make sure the wharf “remains an important part of the economic engine of Whidbey Island,” according to the report.
