Top Prison Health Appointee Forced From Position
The California prison system's top health care official on Monday resigned, less than one month after a court-appointed overseer restructured his job duties, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Peter Farber-Szekrenyi was appointed by the governor in 2005 to head the Division of Correctional Health Care Services. Farber-Szekrenyi said he was asked to resign by Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jim Tilton, on behalf of Schwarzenegger.
Robert Sillen, the federal court-appointed receiver in charge of reforming the state's prison health care system, in February 2007 removed Farber-Szekrenyi from duties concerning medical care delivery in the prisons. Sillen also cut Farber-Szekrenyi's salary by 40%. The duties were reassigned to an official in Sillen's office.
In response to the resignation, Farber-Szekrenyi said, "Nobody understands why it happened." He added, "But that's the way it goes with gubernatorial appointees" (Furillo, Sacramento Bee, 3/6).