California prison medical czar and Corrections officials agree to build new prison hospital in Stockton

Oct. 21, 2009 | Julie Small | KPCC

The federal receiver in charge of California’s prison medical care says he and state prison officials have agreed to build a new prison hospital in Stockton. The agreement reached late Tuesday comes after a similar deal collapsed earlier this year.

The Stockton facility would have enough beds and medical staff to treat about 1,700 mentally or physically ill inmates. That’s far fewer prisoners than a proposal the federal receiver put forward last year. That plan would have provided enough prison hospitals to house and treat 10,000 inmates, but state lawmakers refused to fund that multi-billion dollar plan.

CA/Local News

Federal Receiver Clark Kelso says the scaled-back plan will still address the bulk of inmate health care needs by targeting a critical group of them. Kelso says, “Many of these inmates have chronic conditions that if they’re not cared for properly, if you don’t maintain them, they actually become much worse and then require hospitalization, which is the most expensive way of trying to care for these inmates.”

Kelso says the new $1 billion facility in Stockton will let the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation care for chronically ill inmates so they don’t end up in a hospital.

A joint legislative committee will have to allocate money to build the facility. A couple of state boards must also approve the plan.

Kelso still plans to renovate medical facilities at 10 state prisons and convert three juvenile justice facilities to serve the medical and mental health needs of inmates.

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