Public Safety

Sickest Calif. Inmates Cost Millions

By Joanne Faryon / Investigative Reporter

Published April 19, 2010 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The head of Prison Health Care Services wants to find a way to release some of the sickest and most expensive inmates in state prisons. Twenty-one inmates cost taxpayers more then 4$0 million in medical bills last year.

The head of Prison Health Care Services wants to find a way to release some of the sickest and most expensive inmates in state prisons. Twenty-one inmates cost taxpayers more then $40 million in medical bills last year.

Some of the inmates are on ventilators, others need feeding tubes. They are all medically incapacitated, but in California they are not eligible for compassionate release because they have more then six months to live.

All 21 inmates are in hospitals outside of prison which means they must be guarded 24 hours, seven days a week. The costs add up to as much as $2.5 million per year to treat one inmate.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Clark Kelso is the receiver in charge of Prison Health Services in California.

“Those people need to be put on a parole type of status where you don’t have to have 24 hour guarding.”

The state legislature is looking at a medical parole bill. Kelso estimates releasing just 32 of the sickest inmates would save more then $200 million over five years.

Public Safety

Joanne Faryon

twitter

As an investigative reporter, Joanne Faryon worked with the team of journalists at inewsource, a nonprofit journalism enterprise embedded in the KPBS newsroom. Faryon has more than 20 years of experience as a journalist, working in a print, radio and TV. She previously worked in Canada and the U.S., specializing in investigative reporting. During her time at KPBS, Faryon served as reporter, host, and producer for both TV and radio. Among her many stories and investigations is the 2010 look into the effectiveness of the Whooping Cough vaccine. The series of in-depth features lead the Centers for Disease Control re-examine their reporting and change their guidelines. Faryon’s work has been honored by the USC's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism with the Walter Cronkite Award for political journalism. The prestigious honor was for the Envision special, “Who’s Supervising San Diego?” – an in-depth look at the County’s Board of Supervisors. Faryon has also received an honorable mention from the National Press Foundation in 2010 for an in-depth look at the state's prison system as part of the Envision series. In addition, Faryon has earned two regional Emmys and several awards from the San Diego Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. Her Canadian honors include a Manitoba Human Rights award for meritorious service for her investigative work on the Ku Klux Klan and right-wing extremism in Canada. Joanne has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Winnipeg and a creative communications diploma from Red River College.

See stories by Joanne Faryon