County OKs contract for jail health care
HOULTON, Maine — Aroostook County commissioners opted to retain the services of the health care provider for the Aroostook County Jail last week and also made some staffing decisions for the sheriff’s department during a meeting in Houlton.
Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall said that Katahdin Valley Health Center in Houlton has consistently done an excellent job providing on-site medical services for inmates at the Aroostook County Jail, and they were up for a two-year extension of their contract during the meeting that was held on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
“They have been providing us with the services for quite a few years, from back when Sheriff Jim Madore was here,” he explained. “They provide us with nursing staff and access to a physician as needed.”
Crandall said that if the contract did not exist with KVHC, the jail would have to go out and hire its own medical staff, which would be extremely expensive.
“This has been working extremely well for us, so I see no reason to change it,” he said late last week.
During the meeting, commissioners also approved several staffing changes at the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.
In July, Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Kris Miller of Ludlow retired after 27 years with the department. Instead of replacing her position, the sheriff opted to convert it to a patrol post to provide a “much needed” deputy sheriff position to patrol south of Houlton. During the recent meeting, the commissioners approved the hiring of Alishia Ledger of Hodgdon to fill that post.
In other business, commissioners also approved the retaining of Dan Robertson, another sheriff’s department employee who will be retiring. Crandall said that he will be retained and his position converted to part-time so that he can conduct civil process server work.
