NATCHEZ — Adams County supervisors hired last week a new nurse practitioner.

Raven M. Campbell, who has previous experience at a detention center, was hired to work at a rate of $90,000 per year.

The previous nurse practitioner, Stacy Cook, is taking a job with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said supervisors president Mike Lazarus.

Cook had wanted to drop inmate care from the job duties. The nurse practitioner sees inmates at the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Jail, people at the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center and also has hours for county employees and dependents.

“I would have loved to see her stay, she was organized and she started it (the nurse practitioner program),” Lazarus said. “But we couldn’t pay for two separate things.”

Lazarus said companies had expressed interest in handling inmates, but Lazarus said they also wanted the Juvenile Detention Center as part of the contract and it would have cost the county more than they are paying a nurse practitioner.

Campbell will be the nurse practitioner at the jail, juvenile center and for county employees.

“This works better for us,” Lazarus said.

Cook was hired in October 2016 at a rate of $95,000 per year.

Supervisors, who self-fund their insurance plan, hired a nurse practitioner with the understanding that employees would see the county nurse instead of go to the emergency room or after hours, and that could cut down on health care costs.

Supervisors also thought the nurse practitioner could help promote employees living healthier lives, which in the long run could cut down on health care costs.

The county had previously been paying contracted nurse practitioners $115,000 for services at the jail and juvenile detention center.

In July 2017, Supervisors learned they were able to save $320,000 off the $2 million budgeted for health insurance. Supervisors attributed part of that to the nurse practitioner.