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The State Correctional Institution at Smithfield in Huntingdon County will become the central reception facility for new inmates, including parole violators reentering the system, as part of a reorganization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Department of Corrections news release Friday.
Smithfield also will become a regional infirmary for male inmates without COVID-19.
The coronavirus surge in the state has been reflected in a surge in the corrections system, according to DoC Secretary John Wetzel, as quoted in the news release.
The 13-day reorganization will include transfer of inmates from some prisons to others "to provide relief to some facilities whose designs provide mitigation challenges," Wetzel said, according to the news release.
The transfer protocol calls for a negative COVID-19 test, then a move, followed by a 14-day quarantine and another test before an inmate is released from quarantine in the new location.
Smithfield will begin its revised role on Jan. 4.
New arrivals there will be tested on days 1, 7, 14 and 21, after which they will go to SCI Camp Hill, "where the rest of the classification process will be completed," Wetzel said, according to the news release.
The new process "allows us to filter out COVID-19," protecting staff and inmates in the rest of the system, Wetzel said.
The new infirmary at Smithfield will receive non-COVID-19 inmates from other state prisons who are being released from hospitals.
The change will allow infirmaries at the other state prisons to focus on COVID-19 patients. The arrangement also will help protect vulnerable and older inmates, the news release stated.
The system receives about 1,500 new commitments, parole violators and county transfers per month.
The state prison system has 2,501 inmates and 1,116 staffers with active COVID-19 cases, according to the DoC website.
The system has had 3,360 positives during the pandemic and 39 deaths.
SCI Rockview has 82 inmates and 97 staffers with active cases, with test results pending for 118 inmates. It has had 87 inmate positives during the pandemic, with four recovered and one death.
Smithfield has 40 inmates and 70 staffers with active cases, with test results pending for 196 inmates. It has had 75 inmate positives during the pandemic, with 34 recovered and one death.
SCI Benner Township has 50 inmates and 32 staffers with active cases, with test results pending for 120 inmates. It has had 58 inmate positives during the pandemic, with seven recovered and one death.
SCI Houtzdale has 11 inmates and 25 staffers with active cases, with test results pending for 217 inmates.
SCI Huntingdon has four inmates and 26 staffers with active cases, with test results pending on 96 inmates. It has had 201 inmate positives during the pandemic, with 192 recovered and five deaths.