Andalusia Health signed a contract with the Covington County Commission Tuesday to provide medical care for inmates in the county jail.

CEO John Yanes made a presentation about why Andalusia Health would be a good choice for the job.

“We really appreciate this opportunity to serve the county,” Yanes said. “We are the first hospital in the LifePoint group that will provide this service, so it will be a touch and go thing at first to know what exactly we are dealing with.”

Southern Help Partners previously provided medical services to the jail, but their contract recently expired.

“We will make several updates to the prison health service by converting all of the health records to electronic records, providing an ultrasound unit and providing a general radiology unit,” Yanes said.

Andalusia Health will be using a shared risk model, which will keep costs where they need to be, Yanes said. Risk sharing means that the premiums and losses of each member of a group of policyholders are allocated within the group based on a predetermined formula.

The commission approved the contract with Andalusia Health.

In other business, the commission:

• Considered a contract with Zuercher to provide and maintain a server and software for the sheriff’s department.
• Reappointed Charles Simon, Wayne Bush and Shane Cook to the Covington County Recreation Board. This position is a four-year term.
• Approved adding a temporary full time clerical position at the sheriff’s department.