Camarillo State Administrator to Leave Top Job

David Freehauf, a longtime Camarillo State Hospital administrator and executive director of the institution for the past four years, has resigned for a job with the California Department of Corrections.

Announcement of Freehauf’s resignation from the state Department of Developmental Services came Thursday as state officials continue to prepare for the proposed July closure of the hospital.

He will resign from his duties at the hospital Tuesday.

But Freehauf, 49, said the closure plans did not play significantly into his decision to leave.

“The preponderance of my decision to leave is based on other issues, probably one of the strongest being that I have had a personal interest in forensics for many, many years,” Freehauf said.

He has accepted a position at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, where he will head up a ward that serves mentally ill inmates, he said.

San Luis Obispo County is an area that Freehauf and his family have visited and enjoyed for many years, and he has a daughter who plans to attend the Cal Poly campus there, he said.

Norm Kramer, a longtime Camarillo State assistant, will take over as executive director next week.

Freehauf joins scores of other Camarillo State employees who have been leaving the institution for state jobs elsewhere in light of Gov. Pete Wilson’s plan to shut down the facility.

About 100 workers have left Camarillo State in recent months, said Brian Bowley, chapter president of the union that represents about 600 psychiatric technicians.

“The consensus among the employees is that it’s a signal that the end is near,” Bowley said of Freehauf’s resignation. “When the executive director leaves, it doesn’t look very good.”

Nonetheless, Bowley said he remains confident that the hospital has a chance to remain open after June. Bowley is a member of the state-appointed task force looking at future uses for the hospital property.

“There’s been some interest shown from the Youth Authority and from some private health-care providers,” he said. “So the possibility is there.”

A Department of Developmental Services spokesman said the agency would miss Freehauf.

“The department understands that it’s an opportunity to move on in state service and further his career with the Department of Corrections,” Paul Verke said. “We’re definitely sorry to see him go.”

Freehauf worked for the Department of Developmental Services for 27 years, including the past 18 years at Camarillo State.

He previously worked at Metropolitan Developmental Center in Norwalk and Napa State Hospital.