In Midst Of Mental Health Crisis, Santa Ana Eyes Mostly Vacant Jail As Solution To Bed Shortage
The jail has 512 beds, but it isn't used to detain the vast majority of local arrestees because the county Sheriff's Department jails them nearby at no cost to the city.
Los Angeles Times:
Space In Nearly Empty Santa Ana City Jail Could Go To Mental Health Care
Citing a severe shortage of mental health services in Orange County, Santa Ana officials are considering turning much of their mostly vacant city jail into a mental health treatment center. ... The facility no longer houses the vast majority of people arrested by city police because county jails hold them at no expense to the city. (Gerda, 4/9)
In other news from across the state —
Orange County Register:
CSUF Nursing Students Advocate For Broader Access To Feminine Hygiene Products
Called Lux on Her Side, the campaign aims to collect 6,300 products to donate to the Women’s Transitional Living Center in Fullerton — enough for about a three-month supply. Unopened boxes of tampons, pads and menstrual cups can be dropped off at bins around campus through April 24. (Fawthrop, 4/9)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Woman A Top Blood Bank Donor With 100th Gallon
One hundred gallons. Pint by pint, that’s how much blood Jayne Heimann has donated over 38 years, making her the San Diego Blood Bank’s top female donor. The blood bank celebrated Heimann on Saturday when she came to the group’s headquarters to give her usual pint of platelets. (Steele, 4/8)
The Bakersfield Californian:
'Be Our Guest': San Joaquin Community Hospital Hosts 'Beauty And The Beast' NICU Reunion
Four-year-old Allyson, in her newly purchased yellow Disney princess dress, waited patiently in line with her mother Tammy Hatfield to take a photo with Princess Belle at San Joaquin Community Hospital's seventh annual NICU reunion Sunday afternoon. The two attended the event because Allyson was just 25 weeks old and weighed one pound, two ounces when she was born. (Sanchez, 4/9)
Orange County Register:
Transgender Navy Veteran To Undergo Gender Reassignment Surgery Monday
With [Marsha] Morgan’s own sex reassignment surgery Monday at Kaiser Permanente West Los Hospital, the Navy veteran quietly shares [that] she hopes she receives the same kind of support. It will be the hospital’s first foray into such a life-changing operation. But Morgan, a former sonar technician on a fast attack submarine in the Persian Gulf, exudes the kind of confidence one only gains after decades of deep inner struggle and knowing you are about to transform into the person you always knew you were. (Whiting, 4/9)