DSH - Coalinga: Family and Friend Resources

Patients may use the public telephone on the unit where they live to make outgoing collect phone calls. A patient may also receive incoming calls on his unit if he or another patient is available to answer the public telephone.

Mail and Package:

How to send funds to a patient's account:

  • Personal checks, checks, cash, money orders or other should be mailed directly to patients’ accounts for deposit and will be made payable to: Department of State Hospitals - Coalinga for "patient name." For example, this can also be abbreviated as “DSH - Coalinga for John Doe." The sender’s name and address will also need to be included with all incoming funds. The address to mail funds to be applied to a patient’s account is:

    Dept. of State Hospitals-Coalinga
    Trust Office
    P.O. Box 5001
    Coalinga, CA 93210-5001

Or

  • If funds are received in patient mail, staff will retrieve and receipt them into the receipt book. The funds will be forwarded to the Trust Office for appropriate processing.

How to send mail to a patient:
To write a patient, the address is:

    Patient Name (include CO# and Unit# if known)
    DSH - Coalinga
    P.O. BOX 5003
    Coalinga, CA 93210

  • Mail is defined as paper documents sent in a standard sized, legal sized, or special handling envelope (priority mail, express mail, etc.) with a weight of 13 ounces or less, and thickness of one half inch or less.

Incoming Packages:

  • All sent or received items that do not fall under the definition of “mail” above, constitute “packages." Each package sent or received shall not be more than 24 inches long by 19 inches in length by 12 inches high, and shall weigh no more than 30 pounds. Packages sent to the facility that are not within these limits shall be returned to the sender.
  • Patients are allowed to receive three packages per calendar quarter for the first three quarters of the year (January-March, April-June, July-September) and four packages per individual patient during the fourth quarter of the year (October-December).
  • All incoming mail and packages will be opened and searched for contraband. All mail and packages must have a return address that includes first and last name of the sender and a physical street address.
  • Please see the State-wide Contraband List and the Site Specific Contraband List for items that are not allowed in patients’ possession.

Additional Information: