Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Legislature Mon., May 10, approved a three-year contract with the Pennsylvania-based health care agency Prime Care Medical to provide medical services at the new county jail. The county has agreed to pay just under $612,000 annually to Prime Care. Having a state Commission of Correction approved medical provider on board is another step toward opening the facility, Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said. Catskill representatives Michael Bulich and Matthew Luvera, both Republicans, were the only two votes against the contract. Legislature Chair Patrick linger and Durham representative Patricia Handel of Durham, also Republicans, were absent. Bulich and Luvera objected to the agreement because of cost. Prime Care Medical will provide better coverage than the previous system, Groden said. “It’s a definite increase from what we had before but I would say we didn’t have adequate coverage before,” he said. In the month of April, Greene County was holding 37 people, two of whom were female, Greene County Sheriff Pete Kusminsky said, which puts the new facility near capacity. The jail will contain 16 cells for women and 48 for men. The new 64-bed jail on Route 9W in Coxsackie is expected to start housing people in July. Since the former jail in Catskill was closed in 2018, those detained by Greene County law enforcement have been boarded at the Columbia, Ulster, and Albany county facilities. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.