The man overseeing a mental health hospital with over 600 sexually violent predators is stepping down after less than a year on the job.
Norm Kramer had come out of retirement to serve as the interim executive director of Coalinga State Hospital. But under labor rules, he can only serve 960 hours as a retired annuitant.
“That’s the only reason he’s leaving,” said Department of Mental Health spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid. “We’re still working on a national search for a new director. If he had hours, he’d still be here.”
Opened in the fall of 2005, Coalinga State Hospital has struggled to recruit psychiatrists, therapists and staff to treat patients, most of whom have been deemed sexually violent predators and unfit to return to society even after serving prison terms.
The Coalinga campus, located about 200 miles south of Sacramento in the Central Valley, currently houses 712 patients.
Despite the new complex, patients have complained about inadequate medical care and a rally was held in front of the hospital earlier this month. Check out the patient blog here.
The state spends an average of $183,000 a year to house and treat mental health patients.
Kramer’s last day is Friday. He had nearly four decades of experience in mental health and developmental disabilities.
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