California's troubled 33-prison corrections system - historically plagued by recurring medical staff vacancies - got a boost this year when a court-appointed receiver decided staff deserved pay raises.

The effort to introduce staffing stability meant thousands of dollars in extra pay for doctors and nurses, which in turn caused the state to raise salaries for other employees, such as dentists and psychiatrists.

The results are clear in The Reporter's 30th Survey of Top Public Servant's Pay, published in today's edition. It presents details of base salary and benefits of more than 800 local managers.

Not only did California Medical Facility Chief Dentist Joseph Paulsen jump to the top of the list with a base salary of $314,484, but eight other prison managers also ranked in the top 15.

The Reporter looked at both base salaries and total compensation packages. While Paulsen's total compensation package ($386,881) is below that of Vallejo City Manager Joseph Tanner ($454,708) and Solano County Administrator Michael Johnson ($406,008), his year-over-year jump in pay was much more dramatic. He saw his base salary increase 146.9 percent.

His counterpart at California State Prison, Solano, Chief Dentist Rita McIntyre, also saw a healthy increase. Her base salary jumped 67.7 percent, from $127,356 to $213,629.

What's more, another round of increases for prison medical staff may be on the way, according to officials from Receiver Robert Sillen's office.

Sillen, former executive director of the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System, was appointed receiver in February 2006 by a federal judge who earlier had placed the prison system into receivership, ruling that its medical care for inmates continued to fall short of basic standards.

In September 2006, Sillen received approval to make sweeping salary hikes, according to his spokeswoman Rachael Kagan. This year, he implemented them.

"We have some real good people who deserve to be compensated," said Kagan. "Patient care will improve with more good people in the prisons."

At CMF, Chief Medical Officer Joseph Bick currently earns a base salary of $227,472 - a 56.6 percent spike from his previous salary of $145,212.

At CSP Solano, Chief Medical Officer Alvaro Traquina now earns a base salary of $208,886 - a 22.4 percent increase from last year when he earned $170,657 in base pay.

Both prisons' psychiatrists are paid more than psychiatrists earned there last year.

Kagan pointed out that her office has no jurisdiction over the wages of mental health and dental workers, which are under the purview of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Still, it's likely that the higher earnings of doctors and nurses impacted the salaries of other staff. And Kagan emphasized that paying health care employees good wages will keep them satisfied, which will be revealed in their overall job performance.

A salary survey by the receiver revealed that the state had been paying prison medical staff well under market, Kagan said, so the first round of increases, which went to doctors and nursing staff, was designed to bring salaries to parity with the University of California hospitals.

Now that earnings are competitive, she added, the prison system is likely to draw a pool of well-qualified and much-needed applicants. Statewide, there's a 40 percent vacancy rate for prison physicians and a 53 percent vacancy rate for licensed vocational nurses.

"In our plan of action, our goal is to reduce the vacancy rate to under 10 percent," she said.

Already there's been an increase in X-ray, laboratory and pharmacy staff, she said, but the need for nurses has not abated. The second round of pay hikes, which is still under development, may change this.

Kimberly K. Fu can be reached at cops@thereporter.com.