San Diego County leaders Thursday called out operators of the Otay Mesa Detention Facility for failing to report a suspected tuberculosis case within 24 hours.
The facility waited three weeks to report the possible case, instead of the single day required by California law, the county leaders said.
San Diego County issued the detention facility a notice of noncompliance and warned that continued violations may lead to professional licensing actions.
“When we fought for this law and took this case to court, we were establishing a basic principle: Detention facilities must be subject to public-health oversight,” said San Diego Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson- Remer. “As Otay Mesa continues to fail to report a communicable disease on time, it proves why those principles matter and why regular inspections must continue.”
The facility is also used as a detention site for suspected undocumented immigrants and operated by CoreCivic at the behest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to county leaders.