California Prison Medical Facility Provides Inadequate Care

(AP) - Inspectors say a major California prison medical center still is providing inadequate care to inmates despite 10 years of oversight intended to improve care.

The state inspector general says in a report released Monday that the California Medical Facility in Vacaville failed on half of 14 key benchmarks.

He cites poor nursing care and a recent policy change that means there are no doctors at the facility after normal hours.

The 61-year-old facility provides medical and psychiatric care to more than 2,500 sick inmates, including hospice care for the terminally ill.

It was recently in the news because of a dispute over whether a mentally ill prisoner essentially starved to death.

Inspectors say more than a third of the 22 prisons inspected since last year still provide inadequate care.