California Medical Facility

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

California Medical Facility (CMF)
Aerial View
Location: Vacaville, California, United States
Coordinates: 38°19′44″N 121°58′48″W / 38.329, -121.980
Status: Operational
Security class: minimum to medium
Capacity: 2,179 (but houses 3,047 as of September 2007)
Opened: 1955
Managed by: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Director: Suzan L. Hubbard, Acting Warden

California Medical Facility (CMF) is a male-only California state prison located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville.

Contents

[edit] Current facility

CMF's facilities include Level I ("Open dormitories without a secure perimeter") housing, Level II ("Open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed coverage") housing, and Level III ("Individual cells, fenced perimeters and armed coverage") housing.[1]

With a "general acute care hospital, correctional treatment center (CTC), licensed elderly care unit, in-patient and out-patient psychiatric facilities, a hospice unit for terminally ill inmates, housing and treatment for inmates identified with AIDS/HIV, general population, and other special inmate housing,"[2] it is known as "the [California] prison system's health care flagship" and "has many of its best clinical programs."[3] CMF has the largest hospital among California prisons.[4] Furthermore, "the Department of Mental Health operates a licensed, acute care psychiatric hospital within CMF."[2]

In 2005, CMF had 506 medical staff positions (many of which were not filled) and a health care budget of $72 million.[3] As of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, CMF had a total of 1,853 staff and an annual budget of $180 million.[2] As of September 2007, it had a design capacity of 2,179 but a total institution population of 3,047, for an occupancy rate of 139.9 percent.[5]

[edit] History

CMF opened in 1955.[1] Among other programs at CMF, the Blind Project began in 1960.[6] Inmates who participate in the project create audiobooks, transcribe books into Braille, clean and repair Perkins Brailler machines, and resurface eyeglasses.[6]

In 1984, the California prison system's first AIDS case was treated at CMF[7][8], and later "the system's first specialized AIDS facilities" were developed there[3].

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the quality of medical care at CMF was found to be lacking, as evidenced by the following:

  • After an investigation, the U.S. Justice Department sent a January 1987 letter to then-Governor George Deukmejian stating that CMF "deprive[s] inmates of their right to be free from deliberate indifference to their serious medical needs."[9]
  • A 1988 lawsuit charged that CMF was "a filthy, vermin-infested, overcrowded prison," and that medical care there was "grossly inadequate."[10] Although at the time "all inmates in California prisons" with HIV/AIDS were sent to CMF, the suit claimed that "overcrowded housing and medical conditions in the AIDS wing are worse than in the main prison."[10] A 1990 consent decree caused CMF's health care to "operat[e] under a separate set of rules and with supervision by a court-appointed expert," but a 1998 agreement "plac[ed] the medical and psychiatric care at the facility under the same rules and guidelines as those affecting the rest of the state prison system."[4]
  • A 1989 lawsuit by HIV-infected inmates at CMF claimed that separate housing limited their access to prison services (such as recreation, visitation, and jobs) and subjected them to "unnecessary mental anguish."[11] A consent decree led to "a pilot program to integrate up to 30 of the 140 AIDS-infected inmates at Vacaville [i.e., CMF] into the prison's general population."[11]
  • In spring 1992, "the two top H.I.V. specialists at the prison resigned, frustrated by limited resources and what they described as institutionalized apathy toward AIDS among inmates."[12] The California State Assembly's Public Safety Committee wrote a 1992 report criticizing the care of inmates with HIV or disabilities at CMF.[13] By January 1993, CMF had "embarked on a $5.8 million plan to improve the care of AIDS patients," including "a renovated housing unit, a hospice, an enlarged staff, an ombudsman to hear complaints, warmer clothes and nutritional supplements and sensitivity training for guards."[12]

In 1996 at CMF, "a 17-bed, state-licensed hospice began caring for dying inmates"[8] which was the first hospice among California prisons.[3] Due to an increasing population of elderly at CMF, a nursing home with 21 beds opened in September 2005 "as a pilot program."[3]

[edit] Infamous inmates

  • Juan Vallejo Corona spent "part of his time" after his first (1973) conviction at CMF.[14]
  • Richard Allen Davis was at CMF twice. In 1974, after being arrested for burglary, he was sent to CMF "for a 90-diagnostic study."[15] He was also sentenced to spend six years in CMF for a separate burglary beginning August 1975, but was "paroled a year later."[16]
  • Edmund Kemper is a current inmate who was incarcerated "a short time after" his 1972-1973 murders.[14] He was denied parole in July 2007 but will be eligible for another parole hearing in July 2012.[17]
  • Timothy Leary served time at CMF in 1973-1974 "for possession of marijuana and escape from a minimum security prison at San Luis Obispo [i.e., California Men's Colony ]".[18][19]
  • Charles Manson was transferred from Folsom State Prison to CMF in March 1974 based on "deterioration of his mental condition"[20]; he was returned to Folsom in October 1974[21]. He was again transferred to CMF in May 1976[22] where he stayed for over nine years. While at CMF Manson gave his first notable interview on June 13, 1981 to Tom Snyder for NBC's The Tomorrow Show.[23][24][25] In September 1984, "following a dispute about... Hare Krishna religious chanting," a fellow inmate "doused [Manson] with paint thinner and set [him] afire," causing "second-and third-degree burns on the head, face and hands."[26] Manson was transferred to San Quentin State Prison in July 1985.[27]
  • Theodore Streleski was released unconditionally from CMF in September 1985 after 7 years and 20 days there.[28]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California's Correctional Facilities. 15 Oct 2007.
  2. ^ a b c California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California Medical Facility (CMF). Accessed 03 Dec 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d e Sterngold, James. Hard time: California bracing for a flood of elderly inmates. With convicts aging faster and many in for life, state considers adding more nursing home units. San Francisco Chronicle, December 25, 2005.
  4. ^ a b Sward, Susan. Prison System to Resume Health Care at Vacaville. Agreement ends consent decree. San Francisco Chronicle, November 18, 1998.
  5. ^ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Fu, Kimberly K. CMF inmates book 'em in Braille project. The Reporter (Vacaville, CA), November 19, 2007.
  7. ^ AIDS turns up in prison. Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA), May 5, 1984.
  8. ^ a b Linder, John F., et al. Prison Hospice and Pastoral Care Services in California. Journal of Palliative Medicine, December 2002, Vol. 5 Issue 6, pages 903-908.
  9. ^ Associated Press. U.S. Probe Criticizes Inmate Care at Overcrowded Vacaville Prison. San Jose Mercury News, June 15, 1987.
  10. ^ a b Dickey, Jim. Suit Attacks Vacaville Conditions. Prison Called "Filthy" And "Overcrowded." San Jose Mercury News, January 6, 1988.
  11. ^ a b Bernstein, Dan. Prisoners With AIDS Win Battle. Sacramento Bee, February 7, 1990.
  12. ^ a b Gross, Jane. California Inmates Win Better Prison AIDS Care. New York Times, January 25, 1993.
  13. ^ Sample, Herbert A. Inmates With HIV Slighted. Director Promises Better Patient Care. Modesto Bee, November 20, 1992.
  14. ^ a b Hamlin, Brian. Vacaville prison has long, storied history. Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA), April 4, 2005.
  15. ^ Richard Allen Davis' Life of Crime. San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1996.
  16. ^ Richard Allen Davis: How Suspect Became "Quintessential Convict." San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 1993.
  17. ^ Squires, Jennifer. Serial killer Kemper denied parole. Alameda Times-Star, July 24, 2007.
  18. ^ Leary Admits Mistake in Promotion of LSD. Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1973.
  19. ^ Greenfield, Robert. Timothy Leary: A Biography. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 9780151005000
  20. ^ George, Edward, and Dary Matera. Taming the Beast: Charles Manson's Life Behind Bars. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1998. ISBN 0312209703
  21. ^ Manson Note on Escape Disclosed. Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1974.
  22. ^ Manson Under Psychiatric Treatment. Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1976.
  23. ^ O'Connor, John J. TV Weekend; Manson and Title Boxing. New York Times, June 12, 1981.
  24. ^ Shales, Tom. The Killer Interview; Snyder's Manson Interview; Tom Snyder's Jailhouse Spar With Charles Manson. Washington Post, June 16, 1981.
  25. ^ Garofoli, Joe. Tom Snyder, king of very late-night TV, dies at 71. San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2007.
  26. ^ Wilson, Bill. Manson Badly Burned in Torching by Inmate. Sacramento Bee, September 26, 1984.
  27. ^ Manson Moved to San Quentin. San Francisco Chronicle, July 19, 1985.
  28. ^ Workman, Bill. Math Professor's Killer Will Leave Jail Sunday. San Francisco Chronicle, September 5, 1985.