Judge Removes Private Hospital From Court’s Work Program

To avoid the appearance of impropriety, offenders sentenced to perform community service work will no longer be allowed to work at a private convalescent hospital in Santa Clarita, a Newhall Municipal Court judge said Monday.

Presiding Judge Adrian Adams said offenders will no longer be referred to the Santa Clarita Convalescent Hospital because the court’s judges prefer to see offenders work for nonprofit organizations.

Offenders’ duties included changing beds, painting and reading to patients.

Offenders were referred to the hospital by the Newhall branch of the Volunteer Center of San Fernando Valley, a nonprofit group that oversees court-ordered community service programs connected with the Van Nuys, San Fernando, Glendale, Newhall and Lancaster courthouses.

‘Simply Inappropriate’

It is not illegal for offenders to be sent to private businesses, Adams said, but “it is simply inappropriate.” He said the decision was not a reflection on the performance of the hospital.

Keith Shankland, manager of the community service program in Newhall, said he could not estimate how many offenders worked at the hospital since it joined the program a year ago, but offenders put in about 350 hours there each month.

The hospital was the only Newhall private business in the program, he said. More than 100 organizations in the Santa Clarita Valley use offenders sentenced to perform community service, he said.

The hospital was included because most of the patients in the 99-bed facility receive Medi-Cal benefits, said Pat Kortlander, director of the court-referral program for the Volunteer Center. About 75% of the hospital’s patients receive Medi-Cal, said Jean Priestman, administrator of the hospital.