San Francisco Public Health Department Mulls $33 Million in Cuts
The San Francisco Department of Public Health is facing $33 million in cuts over the next fiscal year, which will limit health services and force some facilities to close or reduce services, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
On Tuesday, the city's Health Commission will hold a hearing to discuss the immediate cuts, while future hearings will address other proposals that remain on the table. Those suggestions include:
- Ending the Health at Home program, which provides home-based care to 350 chronically ill, low-income patients;
- Closing the worker's compensation clinic and reducing hours for the oral surgery clinic and operating department at San Francisco General Hospital;
- Reducing services to patients with mental illnesses;
- Eliminating funding for health initiatives in Bayview-Hunters Point; and
- Imposing a 15% cut to all funding for not-for-profit community health programs.
Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) said last week that no one wants to see so many health care cuts but that the city has no choice.
Mitch Katz, director of the Department of Public Health, said the proposed cuts would not "have a devastating impact on the health department" (Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/2). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.