Reincarnation of Camarillo State

* Gov. Pete Wilson’s recent decision to close Camarillo State Hospital saddened me. I hope the Legislature will seriously look at the options for use developed by Sen. Cathie Wright and Assemblyman Nao Takasugi in deciding what is best for Ventura County.

The proposal to convert the site to a university housing a few developmentally disabled, made recently by Sen. Jack O’Connell and Assemblyman George Firestone, is short-sighted and not feasible. It is naive to think that a university can open immediately if the mentally ill leave the facility.

Why is Gov. Wilson proposing to close Camarillo State (with 850 patients) when Agnews Developmental Center (with only 650 patients) is the more expensive facility? Camarillo has an excellent treatment and safety record, compared with both Agnews and Sonoma Developmental Center.

Since the early 1980s, the California Department of Corrections has built 21 prisons at a cost of $5.27 billion. In the interim, human services and education have suffered. With state prisons at 184% capacity, Gov. Wilson is still unwilling to provide mental health treatment for the mere 150 mentally ill forensic patients it would take to make Camarillo cost-effective. At what point do human needs assume equal priority with costs for mere incarceration?

CYNTHIA F. WEBSTER, Ph.D.

Ventura

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Re: “Two Lawmakers Urge Dual Use of State Hospital,” May 16.

The only solution, in my opinion, is for Camarillo State Hospital to become a teaching hospital, training social workers, nurses and psychiatric technicians. Only in that way, with Camarillo State Hospital as an equal partner, could the hospital live into the new century as a valuable and effective mental health facility.

In other words, the new university would produce nurses, psychiatric technicians and social workers who would get their practical training at Camarillo State Hospital.

ADOLPH DONINS

Oxnard