Newsom Delays Bond Measure for Hospital
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday said he would not include a multimillion-dollar bond proposal to rebuild San Francisco General Hospital on this year's ballot, and instead proposed spending $25 million to determine the actual cost of the project, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Rebuilding the hospital to comply with state seismic safety rules could cost as much as $808 million, according to current projections (Vega, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/8).
Newsom said he wanted to take a more cautious approach to accurately determine how much the bonds will cost.
The $25 million is part of a $51.5 million funding increase for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The money would be used for an environmental impact report and architectural design of a new hospital. The rest of the $51.5 million will be used to fund Laguna Honda Hospital, SFGH and public health clinics.
The proposal must be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (Jouvenal, San Francisco Examiner, 2/8).