Editorial: State should manage NLV prison itself

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

The private company that has a state contract to run the women's prison in North Las Vegas wants to jettison the expensive part of its job. The Corrections Corporation of America has asked the state to take over medical care of the inmates at the 550-bed prison. In exchange, it has proposed that its per-inmate rate of pay be lowered by $14 -- from $47 a day to $33. This sounds like a fabulous deal -- for the private company.

Even Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, a supporter of privatization, seemed to be thinking the same thing when he blocked the offer this week after it came before the Legislative Interim Finance Committee. Intuition alone tells us that $14 a day per inmate -- $7,700 a day if the prison was full -- would not likely cover the medical costs the state would be assuming. Just one major medical procedure, let alone the actual number that might occur every day among more than 500 inmates, could top that amount.

Although a CCA representative said the deal would be a "wash," the committee was right to order a thorough financial analysis of the proposal -- even though there is an urgent aspect to this issue. Dr. Ted D'Amico, medical director for the state's prison system, was not considering finances when he urged the committee to approve the proposal. His issue was the quality of care the women are receiving. The care is "not up to standard," he said, adding that "it's dangerous to wait."

In our view, this statement alone should be enough for the state to end its experiment with privatization of vital services. The profit motive, so productive in private industry, is simply not compatible with the mission of government, which is to provide efficient, quality service in all of its areas of responsibility. The state should cancel its contract with this private company and assume its proper role in running the prison.