Newswise — California Pacific Medical Center's citywide health care development plan, its vision for rebuilding its multi-campus hospital system, took an important first step towards approval when the San Francisco Health Commission forwarded the plan to the City's Planning Commission.
"We are grateful to the members of the Health Commission for their hard work," says Warren Browner, M.D., MPH, CEO of California Pacific. "We still have a long way to go, but this process highlighted how important our plan is to the City not just from a health perspective, but also from a public safety one. The Commission agrees with us that the failure of CPMC to rebuild its seismically deficient campuses would be a 'crushing loss' for the city." Browner notes further: "Our plan will inject some $2.5 billion into the economy, create more than 1,500 well-paid construction jobs, and sustain more than 6,500 current jobs."
The Health Commission voted unanimously to adopt a resolution commending California Pacific and making several recommendations for California Pacific's further consideration, while sending the plan to the Planning Commission, the next stage in the review process.
The Commission's resolution describes CPMC as "a key partner in meeting the health needs of San Francisco residents" and says, "were CPMC not to build new hospitals, the City would lose one-third of all acute care beds, two full-service emergency departments, and one specialty care emergency department, which would be a crushing loss for the City."
The resolution followed lengthy testimony over several hearings, and a review by the Health Commission of an independent analysis conducted by the Lewin Group of California Pacific's plan. The Lewin report examined California Pacific's proposals to build new hospitals at the Van Ness and Geary site and the St. Luke's Campus, create a Neuroscience Institute at the Davies Campus, as well as to seismically upgrade other facilities " including a medical office building at Davies. The report then analyzed how those would impact the City's long-term health care needs. The report concluded by saying that "the plans articulated"¦ represent a positive impact on citywide healthcare needs." The report added that "we view the plans proposed"¦ as a proactive measure to ensure the long-term availability of health care services in the City and County of San Francisco."
Both the Lewin report and the Health Commission did raise questions about the provision of skilled nursing facility (SNF), sub-acute care and inpatient psychiatric beds. California Pacific acknowledged that these are important issues that need to be addressed on a citywide basis and agreed to work with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and other San Francisco hospitals to help resolve them. The Health Commission also called on California Pacific to increase its charity care activities.
In passing the resolution, the Health Commission praised California Pacific for establishing the Blue Ribbon Panel process and its work with the Community Task Force and commitment to rebuilding St. Luke's. Throughout the hearing process supporters of CPMC turned out in force to tell the Commission of the important role the hospital plays in providing quality care to all its patients, regardless of where they are treated or their ability to pay, and they encouraged the Commission to help CPMC meet stringent deadlines to create two new hospitals, allowing CPMC to do an even better job of providing care for future generations of San Franciscans.
The next stage in the review process is an informational hearing before the City's Planning Commission, anticipated in September. Please check the SF Planning Department website (www.sfgov.org/planning) for scheduling of this hearing.
California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.
At San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care, with kindness and compassion, in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That's why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It's why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support and wellness treatments. As one of California's largest private, community-based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening and financial support in some of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. Medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life. www.cpmc.org
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