Other than a few state university officials, no California government employee made more money last year than Dr. Jeffrey Rohlfing, a prison physician who’s done very little doctoring in recent years.

 

According to a Los Angeles Times investigation, Rohlfing made $777,423 in 2010. Not bad for someone with “a history of mental illness, was fired once for alleged incompetence and has not been allowed to treat an inmate for six years because medical supervisors don’t trust his clinical skills.”

 

To be fair, Rohlfing’s base salary was only $235,740, typical for California’s corrections system. But he also collected back pay for two years he didn’t work for the state while appealing his termination.

 

Rohlfing’s troubles began in 1996, when he suffered a breakdown while working at a hospital in Fresno. Twice, he was committed to psychiatric wards for 72 hours, leading to the California Medical Board putting him on probation for five years.

 

Being on probation didn’t stop state prison officials in Susanville from giving Rohlfing a part-time job in August 2000. Three years later he was elevated to full-time work caring for prisoners. One died under his care in 2005, and two others having heart problems failed to get proper medical care under Rohlfing’s authority.

 

His supervisors then fired him. But Rohlfing appealed the decision and was reinstated in 2009.

 

He currently works in a 20-by-30-foot storage room auditing medical charts to assess whether patient care is adequate. His room has air-conditioning, a phone and a computer, but no heat.

 

Rohlfing calls it being in “cold storage.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Prison Doctor Gets Paid for Doing Little or Nothing (by Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times)

More Government Pay Data Released in the Wake of the Bell Scandal (by Sam Allen, Los Angeles Times)

Madness, Exhibit A: Prison Doctor's Pay (by Dan Morain, Sacramento Bee)