EDITORIAL: Prison health care Building consensus

Nov. 18, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The California prison health care receiver appointed by a federal judge to bring the state's prison medical system up to constitutional standards met with The Bee's Editorial Board on Monday.

The state has known for some time that it needs to build 5,000 medical beds and 5,000 mental health beds over the next five years for chronically ill, physically impaired, feeble prisoners.

Below are some excerpts from J. Clark Kelso's comments.

How is the state going to pay for an $8 billion building package?

We've got three or four months here where we can step back while there's no immediate court action. We can step back and see if we can do some alternative planning and develop a consensus for what might be possible. Â… We are looking to provide the most cost-effective treatment for about 6 percent of CDCR's population who have chronic, long-term conditions and various mental problems. And the facilities we're looking to construct for that are pretty much the same kind of facilities that the state would construct if it had the will to do it. Not extravagant. Complies with court orders -- and, most importantly, with state statutes, policies and regulations that we've been ordered to comply with.

Why build seven 1,500-bed facilities?

Unless there's going to be a sea change in the state's willingness to have the release of felons who have been convicted of serious or violent felonies, I have to deal with the population that I've got. My job is not to remake all of corrections, just to deal with the medical and health care needs of whoever the state decides is going to be in prison. The (number) of the old prisoners is going up. Â… I have to deal with those people. Â… If I build 10,000 beds, it helps CDCR with a serious overcrowding problem.

Should I commit a crime to get health care?

How many people, if they really knew the conditions in San Quentin, if they knew what it was like to be in Avenal, would they really trade their freedom? I doubt it.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0178-29665150