By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-876897.mp3
Utica, NY – New York Corrections officials credit two "showcase" projects in Central New York with upgrading the prison system statewide. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
The first inmates have moved into the new state-of-the-art Residential Mental Health Unit, which opened last week at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County.
The 100-bed Residential Mental Health Unit is being hailed as a "first in the nation facility". Built at a cost of 23-point-5 million dollars, it comes as part of a 2007 court settlement between the state and Disability Advocates Incorporated.
Inmates in the new unit will receive more mental health care, therapeutic programming, and exercise. Disability Advocates will monitor the facility.
A $12.6 million expansion of the prison Central Pharmacy is also being built at the Marcy compound. Officials expect the facility to be completed by early 2011, adding 100 new jobs to the local economy. One official noted that the drug distribution hub will save taxpayers millions because currently 1/3rd of the states prisons now outsource the filling of prescriptions.