Published: November 14, 2009 08:33 pm      

Why not use one of our old hospitals as a geriatric prison?

As our region embarks on the opening of a new hospital, much discussion has been made of what will become of the two older hospitals. As I understand, no suitable plans have been made on the future use of these buildings.

I am putting forth a proposition to make use of at least one of the two hospitals for a very practical purpose. The city/county should petition the state, or a private company, to covert one of the two facilities into a geriatric prison.

A geriatric prison is a separate, minimum security institution designed specifically for elderly and/or infirmed inmates. The Maryland Department of Corrections held approximately 2,260 inmates age 51 or above (10 percent of the total population) in 2008. Predictions are that this percentage will increase in the future.

Most prisons are not built with the elderly in mind. Holding them in prisons designed for younger inmates is impractical and possibly inhumane. Therefore, I think that this would be a practical solution for the prison system and make good use of at least one of the soon to be vacant buildings.

Other states have designed prisons specifically for their elderly inmates, we should consider this for our state as well.

John McMullen

LaVale