IRON MOUNTAIN — ATC Healthcare Services of MidMichigan will provide staffing for inmate medical care in Dickinson County at a potential contract savings of more than $100,000 annually.

The county board accepted ATC’s proposal Monday after reviewing it with Sheriff Aaron Rochon.

The contract calls for a full-time registered nurse, along with limited nurse practitioner services, at $191,360 for the year, Rochon said. A comparable proposal from the current provider, Advanced Correctional Health, totaled $315,000, he said.

Five vendors were contacted but only two responded. Neither proposal included medications — a cost that’s hard to predict, Rochon said.

Based on past years, medications could be in the range of $60,000 or more, but reimbursements may come from several sources. These include mental health initiatives and substance abuse programs, along with billing an inmate’s insurance.

Under the current agreement with ACH, the budget for inmate health services is projected at $338,000 for the year, Rochon said.

The jail is also eligible for nine hours of mental health staffing weekly, reimbursed entirely through a grant, he said.

Some other Upper Peninsula counties, including Marquette, are switching their jail care to Midland-based ATC. Minutes from an April meeting of the Marquette County Board indicated ATC’s proposal for 40-hours per week registered nurse services was $227,396 annually, compared with ACH’s $328,088 offer.

Rochon said he hopes to pursue a three-year agreement with ATC. The actual cost will depend on the jail census and the county will only be billed for services provided, he explained.

“They are flexible,” he said of ATC’s proposal. Services will begin Nov. 1.

Jails in Michigan are legally required to provide medical care to inmates, commissioners noted.

The average daily inmate population in the Dickinson jail in August was 63, including 12 women, according to the sheriff’s monthly report.

In other action, the county board:

— Discussed but took no action on the idea of meeting at sites other than the courthouse in Iron Mountain. Breitung Township Hall in Quinnesec would require less security from the sheriff’s office, as it has just one floor, Rochon noted. During citizens’ time, Barbara Kramer of Iron Mountain suggested meetings occasionally take place in Norway or Felch Township.

— Heard a presentation from Kristin Sommerfeld, executive director of the Dickinson-Iron Community Services Agency. Deliberations will begin soon on the distribution of about $500,000 in Dickinson County senior millage funds for the 2026 budget year. DICSA has typically received about 60% of that allocation, with the rest going to the five senior centers in the county. DICSA spends about 80% of its millage funds on nutrition services, including home-delivered meals throughout the county, Sommerfeld said. Commissioners Joe Stevens and Kevin Sullivan complimented Sommerfeld on DICSA’s work in the community. DICSA’s only congregate meal site in Dickinson County is the Breen Center in Kingsford, while other centers operate on their own.

— During citizens’ time, heard Bob Simon of Vulcan say the board’s decision to eliminate $81,000 in budgeted county support for Michigan State University Extension services was “very short-sighted, especially for the youth.” With Stevens dissenting, the board voted 4-1 in August to affirm the 2025 budget cut after being informed MSU could no longer provide a full-time 4-H coordinator with an office at Bay College’s Iron Mountain campus.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.