Adams County Supervisors certainly think outside the box in addressing county issues.

Last week supervisors proposed a rather novel idea to lower the county’s healthcare costs — hire its own nurse practitioner.

County leaders are early in the process of exploring the option. However with its own self-insured health insurance plan, simply paying a provider directly may make a good deal of financial sense.

Supervisors say Adams County already pays approximately $115,000 annually to fund a nurse practitioner’s visits the county jail and juvenile justice center.

Given what the county is already spending, hiring its own nurse practitioner may make financial sense, particularly if the county encourages county employees to visit the nurse practitioner first for routine ailments.

This is not the only unique idea supervisors have thrown at the proverbial wall to see if it will stick.

In recent months county leaders have considered hiring someone to investigate the problem of out-of-state license plates — a problem believed to cause a significant drain on county tax collections.

Supervisors also mulled the idea of converting the county’s system of paying for sanitation services to one funded by millage rather than directly billing users — the current system, which causes billing issues.

Supervisors deserve applause for leaving no stone unturned in looking at problems in different ways. That approach to government is appreciated.