LA County inmates with medical problems sleep on jailhouse floors

LOS ANGELES - County inmates with medical problems are regularly forced to sleep on jailhouse floors while waiting to be transferred to cellblocks because of severe overcrowding and staff shortages.

Incoming inmates with a history of medical or mental health problems undergo examinations at a jail clinic under a 2002 agreement with the federal Justice Department.

But the system has only 22 doctors and about 600 nurses, representing a vacancy rate of nearly 15 percent, said Lt. Steve Smith, who manages the jail's Medical Services Bureau.

That shortage creates a bottleneck of inmates at the system's reception center. As a result, up to 15 percent of inmates who enter jail needing medical care have to wait more than 24 hours, Smith said.

In the meantime, many end up sleeping on the floor.

"I thought, since I'm handicapped, I should have been given a bed," said Mitchell Hart, 49, who spent two days in jail last week for panhandling at a freeway offramp. Hart, who is missing his left arm, slept on the floor without a mat or blanket.

"They treat a dog better," he said.

One afternoon last week, nearly 400 inmates waited for examinations by two doctors and 13 nurses.

By 11 p.m., more than 250 men remained in a jail waiting area consisting of holding tanks lined with metal benches and toilets. Only one doctor was on night duty.

"I can't see everybody at once," Dr. Raleigh Saddler said. "You need more physicians. It's that simple."

Although county supervisors allocated an additional $5 million for jailhouse security last June, officials said the system would still lack personnel.

"Even if we fill all of our vacancies, we still need additional staff," Smith said.

He hoped for extra funding to convert a closed section of downtown Los Angeles' Twin Towers jail into a medical clinic to give new inmates beds and hot meals while they wait.

"It's all about money," Smith said. "It always is."

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com