California Health Care Facility

California Health Care Facility (CHCF) is a state prison for incarcerated patients with long-term medical needs or acute mental health needs. The prison is located in Stockton, California, on the site of the former Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility. Incarcerated people of all security levels are treated at the facility.

California Health Care Facility

Aerial View
Location	San Joaquin County, in Stockton, California
Coordinates	37.895°N 121.194°W / 37.895; -121.194
Status	Operational
Capacity	2,953
Population	2,401 (81.3%) (as of January 31, 2023[1])
Opened	July 2013
Managed by	California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Warden	Gena Jones

Facilities and programs

The 61-building medical complex was built in response to two federal class action civil rights lawsuits (Plata v. Schwarzenegger and Coleman v. Schwarzenegger), after which a federal court in Sacramento ruled that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's medical and mental health services violated the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.^[2] The facility cost $839 million to construct and employs approximately 4,000 custody, medical and support staff.^[3]

Facilities include a diagnostic center, dental clinic, dialysis clinic, memory care center, and palliative care unit. CHCF provides both inpatient and outpatient medical and mental health treatment.^[4]

As of April 30, 2020, CHCF was incarcerating people at 93.2% of its design capacity, with 2,751 occupants.^[5]

Notable events

In March of 2019, CDCR confirmed a patient who had been incarcerated at CHCF and died tested positive after death for Legionnaires' disease. After additional testing of patients with pneumonia, one additional patient tested positive for Legionnaires' disease and was treated at the facility. In response to the outbreak, CHCF temporarily shut off some water access, including showers, and instead provided bottled water for drinking and hygiene.^[6][7]

Notable inmates

• Kevin Cooper, mass murderer: Transferred in May 2024.
• Robert Durst, real-estate heir; convicted of murder (died in 2022 during the pendency of appeals)^[8]
• Richard Farley (born 1948): perpetrator of the Sunnyvale ESL shooting. Sentenced to death in 1992,^[9] and death sentence reaffirmed in 2025.^[10][11]
• Billy Mansfield, serial killer^[12]
• Manuel Moore, one of the "Zebra" murderers; died in 2017 in custody^[13]
• Herbert Mullin, serial killer; died in 2022 in custody^[14]
• Hans Reiser, founder of Namesys and convicted murderer^[15]
• John Floyd Thomas Jr., serial killer.^[16]

See also

• List of California state prisons