Lewis County approves jail medical contract with Correctional Health Partners

On Sept. 2, 2025, the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners approved a contract to replace the county jail's current medical provider with Correctional Health Partners (CHP), with a planned service transition on Nov. 1, the county's sheriff's office told commissioners. The change comes after the county's current provider, Navcare, requested what Sheriff's Office leadership described as an unaffordable increase in service costs. John "Chief" Chris Sweet, speaking for the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, said CHP is expected to assume full responsibility for the jail's medical program and that county leaders expect no interruption of medical services during the transition. The move matters because the county must maintain continuous medical care for incarcerated people; the resolution approving the contract was part of a package of deliberation items the board approved 3-0. Sweet told commissioners that CHP provided an example certificate of liability insurance and that there had been a discrepancy earlier about a $10,000,000 insurance policy referenced in the county's contract language. Sweet said the company agreed to the insurance amounts required by the county contract and risk pool. Sweet also said the contract is structured as a five-year term with an option to extend for an additional five years. Commissioners asked several clarifying questions during the deliberation; one commissioner asked whether the contract length would be five or three years and Chief Sweet confirmed the county planned a five-year term with a five-year renewal option. The sheriff's office indicated it had been negotiating this change for months and that, as of the most recent staff update, county nursing staff were expected to remain through the transition to CHP. Formal action: the board moved and seconded approval of deliberation resolutions 25-245 through 25-249, which included the CHP contract (resolution 25-247). The motion passed on a 3-0 vote. Implementation details the meeting recorded: the sheriff's office identified Nov. 1 as the tentative takeover date and said CHP's CEO, Dr. Freeland, had provided sample insurance documentation. No contract dollar amount was provided in the public deliberation at the Sept. 2 meeting. The discussion and vote occurred during the commissioners' deliberation period; comments from the sheriff's office were part of the staff presentation and not public comment.