photo by: Contributed

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health is located at 200 Maine St.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board voted to approve a tentative agreement for the health department to provide health services for residents at the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center.

The board voted unanimously earlier in the month to allow for the Lawrence Douglas-County Public Health to sign off on a deal that would provide physical health and nursing services to residents at the Juvenile Detention Center and its day school attendees starting next year. The agreement could last up to five years, according to a board memo.

During the meeting on Dec. 15, board member Erika Dvorske noted that LDCPH responded to an application from Douglas County to provide those services and was selected, and at this point, the two parties were still negotiating the final terms.

Christine Ebert, the director of clinic services for the health department, told the Journal-World LDCPH previously provided medical services for the county’s juvenile center but stopped after not having the clinic staffing to continue doing so. This agreement would “reestablish” that role for the health department.

Ebert said some of the services the health department would provide to patients include intake health history reviews, required health screenings and medication coordination.

According to the tentative agreement, LDCPH will provide one registered nurse to the detention center facility, 330 NE Industrial Ln., for approximately four hours a day, three days a week. The county would pay LDCPH $28,000 per year, plus physician services at $60 per hour which is expected to total $30,000 per year.

Dvorske said she was supportive of allowing the agreement to proceed, saying that providing medical services for the county’s juvenile center was “absolutely a need in the community,” and the agreement would be a way to support a critical partner of LDCPH. Other board members noted the agreement could potentially generate revenue based on the potential billing of insurance companies.

LDCPH is expected to begin providing the services Jan. 1.