Sacramento, Calif. Inmates complaining of slow and substandard health care in the California women’s prison system have the ear of a state senator who heads a committee for treating the ills they experience.

"It’s always been an issue of access and quality and consistency of care," said Gwynnae Byrd, a prison issues consultant to the Joint Committee on Prison Construction and Operations, chaired by Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles. "Women do demand more services because they are more aware. Women are more in touch with their bodies," Byrd said.

Polanco held hearings this month at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, which together house about 7,000 of the 11,000 women in the California Department of Corrections.

Cory Weinstein, MD, of the inmate advocacy group California Prison Focus, called the prisoners’ testimony "dramatic, compelling and accurate," as they told of serious illnesses that are ignored and a demoralized health staff torn by allegiance to the medical and penal communities.

"The staff does not engage prisoners in a positive way. Procedures are not done. It winds up a waste not only of life and limb but of money," Weinstein said.

"We have difficulty recruiting staff," said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Margot Bach, but added, "Our health care in all arenas is at community standards or above."

Behind some complaints, she said, is the fact that women often enter prison having neglected medical and dental care for years, and "catching up requires a great deal of effort."

"That does take time," Bach said. HIV and hepatitis C are common ailments, she said.

Polanco’s staff said he may sponsor new prison health care legislation in January.

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