Prisons: telemedicine.

Existing law, the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in 2 phases, to design, construct, or renovate prison facilities to provide medical, dental, and mental health treatment or housing for inmates. Existing law allows the State Public Works Board to issue revenue bonds, negotiable notes, or negotiable bond anticipation notes to finance the design, construction, and the costs of interim financing of the projects authorized by the act. This bill would authorize the department to install telemedicine fixtures and broadband infrastructure in new or existing buildings in the second phase in order to reduce prison health care delivery costs.