State advised to postpone prison medical facility

By The Record

February 27, 2012 12:00 AM

California - even with a state prison medical facility already under construction southeast of Stockton - has been advised by the Legislative Analyst's Office to hold off on building new medical facilities for inmates.

That view contradicts plans by the court-appointed receiver who has run the prison health system since a federal judge declared it unconstitutional and inadequate. The receiver has plans for $2.3 billion in new clinics and upgrades.

Construction is one of the final sticking points before the state can end six years of federal oversight of inmate medical care. The judge has ordered preparations for returning control to the state but said the lack of new medical facilities is an ongoing problem.

California is already building a new facility for long-term medical and mental-health care near Stockton. But the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, also wants to convert three nearby former juvenile correctional facilities to provide care to adult inmates and spend $750 million on upgrades to clinics throughout the 33-prison state system.

Although the Legislative Analyst's Office said in a report issued last week that some medical facilities remain in poor condition, it questioned the need for new construction. The prison population is declining because low-level offenders are being kept in county custody to reduce overcrowding.

That rerouting "may make it possible to close some prisons in the future," the report said. "It would be unwise to make significant infrastructure investments at such facilities at this time."

Kelso has said that some new medical facilities will be necessary anyway. Prison medical needs are increasing as the inmate population ages.

There are 70,000 prisoners with chronic health problems such as hypertension, HIV and diabetes, and 50,000 inmates are at least 50 years old.

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State advised to postpone prison medical facility