WHEREAS, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, as one of the nation’s leading public hospitals, has continuously provided a wide range of ambulatory and acute care services to San Francisco residents for over one hundred years; and,
WHEREAS, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, through its long-standing affiliation with the University of California at San Francisco, has been the nucleus for medical research in the areas of AIDS/HIV, lung biology, infectious diseases, neurology, and other healthcare concerns vital to the citizens of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, the highly regarded staff of San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center provides an essential service through direct clinical care and through related medical research of diseases affecting the residents of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, California Senate Bill 1953 requires all California acute care hospitals to have performed all seismic improvements to existing buildings by the year 2008, and have available a seismically conforming building for acute patient care before the year 2030 or be revoked of their acute care license; and,
WHEREAS, California Senate Bill 1803 (Speier) allows hospitals to defer seismic improvements to existing hospital buildings by 2008, provided a conforming building is in place by 2013; and,
WHEREAS, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center’s Main Building has been categorized as Structural Performance Category 1 (SPC 1), and currently does not comply with SB 1953 regulations; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission supports meeting the seismic safety standards of Senate Bill 1953 so that a new conforming hospital building will be in place by the year 2013 (Speier); and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission supports the maintenance of San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center as a world-class academic hospital that attracts the finest medical staff and researchers; and,
WHEREAS, co-locating San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center with the Medical Center of the University of California, San Francisco may provide benefits such as improved quality of care, enhancement of teaching and research, conservation of resources, improved rebuild financing, and greater public support; and,
WHEREAS, previous planning efforts have been made between the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the University of California to explore the possibility of co-location; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission wishes to continue discussions with the State Legislature on the timeline of SB 1953 in order to ensure that comprehensive planning can take place, including further discussions about co-location opportunities; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Department of Public Health within its Strategic Planning recognizes the importance of San Francisco General Hospital in providing services to the community and supports the continued future of its role as a community-based hospital; and,
WHEREAS, the cost of rebuilding San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center exceeds the amount of a feasible general obligation bond; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission has requested a review of San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center’s current and future bed capacity requirements; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission has requested a review of previous assessments on retrofitting San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center’s acute care facilities; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Health Commission supports the improvement of outreach strategies to continually inform the community of the rebuild planning process and to receive public input; now, therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission wants to ensure that San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center meets Senate Bill 1953 safety standards by 2013 so that it will not close in 2008; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission encourages efforts to seek alternative funding sources in order to supplement a general obligation bond; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission supports reconvening discussions with the University of California regarding the possibility of co-location opportunities between San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center and the Medical Center of the University of California, San Francisco, assuming that the University is interested in reopening this issue; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission wishes to continue discussions with the State Legislature on the timeline of SB 1953 in order to ensure that comprehensive planning can take place, including further discussions about co-location opportunities; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission requests a review of San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center’s current and future bed capacity requirements; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission requests a review of previous assessments on retrofitting San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center’s acute care facilities; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission encourages the improvement of outreach strategies to continually inform the community on the rebuild planning process and to receive public input.
I hereby certify that the San Francisco Health Commission at its meeting of October 21, 2003 adopted the foregoing resolution.
Michele M. Olson, Executive Secretary to the Health Commission