JASPER —The Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners voted to hire a contractor for renovations to relocate the Hamilton Primary Care at its April 16 meeting.

The commissioners voted in February to relocate the clinic to the old doctor’s office on 5th Avenue in Jasper.

The building needs some renovations before the move can happen.

The county went out for bids but received none.

“I really want to move forward with the renovations,” Chairman Josh Smith said.

Rebidding the project would take time and the commissioners want the project completed as soon as possible.

The commissioners voted to allow County Coordinator Louie Goodin to negotiate with a contractor for the renovations.

The center is currently located at 1150 U.S. Highway 41.

According to Smith, the Hamilton County Hospital Board has decided to withdraw from the agreement with Hamilton Primary Care.

The county and the hospital board agreed to provide a maximum of $160,000 a year for the clinic’s quarterly losses.

The hospital board also pays for the $1,000 rent for the center’s current facility.

Steve Davis, Chief Financial Officer of Shands Lake Shore, said the volume of patients was growing in the last quarter.

He added the relocation of the clinic may improve the volume.

“If you want to continue the service, we will keep working with you to try to improve it, improve the volumes,” Davis said. “If you do not want to continue with it, we are fine with that. We just want to be a good partner.”

Smith said he wished the hospital board had waited to make a decision after the center was relocated to see if he number of patients would improve.

The commissioners are still committed to making the center work.