Consultant Finds No ‘Critical’ Problems : County Urged to Bolster Medical Staffing at Jail

A consultant on jail health care has found no major problems with the medical treatment provided to inmates at the Orange County Jail but has recommended increasing the size of the medical staff and lessening overcrowding at the facility.

Bonnie Norman, former head of jail medical services for Los Angeles County, outlined her findings in seven days of evaluations of the jail in a report that Robert Love, interim director of the county Health Care Agency, provided to the Board of Supervisors this week.

“I found no critical deficiencies in inmate health care,” Norman said in her report. But there are “shortages of staff, problems caused by overcrowding, and the noticeable lack of a full-time administrator.”

Administrator Begins Work

One problem mentioned by Norman will be solved Friday when the jail’s first full-time administrator, Frank Madrigal, begins work. Two weeks ago the county grand jury also recommended appointment of a full-time administrator.

Love said it will be Madrigal’s responsibility “to work with the sheriff and implement in priority order the recommendations” made by Norman. The Sheriff’s Department runs the jail, while the Health Care Agency runs the medical ward in the jail.

Overcrowding in the jail has also been the concern of a federal judge, William P. Gray. On March 18 Gray found the supervisors and Sheriff Brad Gates in criminal contempt for violating Gray’s 1978 order requiring that beds be provided for all jail inmates. Gray imposed a $50,000 fine, plus a $10-per-day fine for each inmate who has to sleep on the floor more than one night. There have been up to 500 inmates sleeping on the floor.

On Wednesday the supervisors authorized payment of the fine, which will be used to pay the expenses of a special master appointed by Gray to monitor operations at the men’s jail.