S.F. Supervisors Give Initial OK to Health Services Master Plan
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to give preliminary approval to an ordinance that would establish a citywide Health Services Master Plan to increase oversight of future health care facility construction projects, the Bay Citizen reports (Shih, Bay Citizen, 11/17).
Plan Specifics
Supervisor David Campos proposed the master plan, which aims to guide land-use decisions when hospitals and other health care facilities request building permits (Gordon, "City Insider," San Francisco Chronicle, 11/16).
The plan would require a medical facility to demonstrate that their services would align with the city's needs.
San Francisco's Planning Department and the Department of Public Health would develop the plan (Kane, "City Insider," San Francisco Chronicle, 11/16).
Concerns
The plan for a citywide health services plan has stirred some concerns that the measure would threaten California Pacific Medical Center's plan to build a $2.5 billion medical complex on Cathedral Hill.
The plan also could affect the future expansion plans of Kaiser Permanente and other major health care providers.
Next Up
Supervisors will need to vote once more to ratify the ordinance.
Although San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) opposed an earlier version of Campos' ordinance, he has not indicated whether he would veto the latest version.
If the legislation receives final approval, the planning and public health departments could begin drafting guidelines for the plan immediately.
The master plan then would take effect in the beginning of 2013, according to City Hall staff (Bay Citizen, 11/17).
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