“These are not hospitals. These are really supervised living facilities with a nursing home sort of quality.”
By Michele Clock
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
OTAY MESA, Calif. – A court-appointed receiver charged with overseeing health care in the state’s prison system wants to build a 1,500-bed medical facility in Otay Mesa, part of a $7 billion statewide package to improve the quality of treatment for prisoners with chronic conditions.
A federal judge yesterday approved the plan by the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, to improve prison medical care, but funding is unresolved for the facility near the Richard J. Donovan prison and up to six others around the state. The state Senate has twice voted down plans to borrow money to pay for the upgrades.
Notices were submitted yesterday to local, state and federal agencies by Kelso’s office that an environmental review would begin for a high-security medical facility in Otay Mesa and another in the Stockton area. Other potential sites include Camarillo and Chino.
Kelso said the Otay Mesa facility could be completed as early as 2011 and would handle mental health and medical care. It would care for inmates with chronic conditions such as hypertension, lost limbs and serious mental issues.
“These are not hospitals,” Kelso said. “These are really supervised living facilities with a nursing home sort of quality.”
The state’s prison population is aging. The age of the average male inmate has risen from 31 in 1987 to 36 today. State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data show that more than 12 percent of male inmates are 50 and older.
A federal judge appointed a receiver to take charge of the state prisons’ medical system in 2005 after finding that conditions were so poor that they violated prisoners’ constitutional rights.
State officials in Sacramento have clashed over how to pay for improvements. State Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula, yesterday pointed to a massive bond issuance he said has already been approved to deal with prison overcrowding.
“Those funds are adequate to deal with the issue, rather than haphazardly issuing an additional $7 billion of debt,” Hollingsworth said in a statement.
A set of private firms will prepare an environmental impact report looking at building a health care facility in a part of Otay Mesa now home to a cluster of law enforcement compounds. The facility would be on the same site as the current Donovan state prison.
Nearby, the county has suggested building a new structure at the George F. Bailey Detention Facility to help inmates transition into society. Finding a spot for that facility is required as part of the county’s application for $100 million in state money for a new Las Colinas Detention Facility.
County Supervisor Greg Cox, who represents South County, didn’t take a position yesterday on the proposed medical facility. He said the plans would not require approval by the county Board of Supervisors.
“The state and the federal receiver should be able to agree on improvements to prison health services in a way that doesn’t adversely impact the community,” Cox said in a statement.
Copyright 2008 San Diego Union-Tribune