Turning Point
That may change, now that the DPH established a steering committee charged with guiding the budget priorities and with identifying and developing initiatives that work to benefit the entire public health care system. King serves on that committee, which is made up of other senior administrative and clinical leaders from the city’s health care delivery system, including DPH Director Mitch Katz and SFGH’s O’Connell, both of whom have been advocates for SFGH. The committee will make recommendations to the San Francisco Health Commission prior to the city budget being finalized.
For his part, Mayor Gavin Newsom has pledged more financial support for public health. In fact, the Mayor announced on Feb. 7 the formation of a Universal Health Care Council to develop a proposal to provide health care for all uninsured San Francisco residents. He also proposed investing $51.6 million in the city’s health care system, which includes $25 million for the pre-development phase for a new hospital, which must be built to meet a state seismic safety law. This money would allow SFGH to move forward with architectural design and engineering plans, among other steps.
That’s good news for SFGH.
| "We’ve seen a turning point in the way we are perceived by city officials," says Kevin Grumbach, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. "In the past, there was a sense that some people on the City side regarded UCSF physicians and staff as temporary guest workers in the City’s hospital, or as being ‘on loan’ from UCSF Medical Center. There now seems to more recognition that we are true partners with a shared mission of making SF General work in the best interests of the patients we serve." |
The central question for the public hospital, Grumbach says, is how SFGH will be able to afford innovations in technology and soaring expenses for drugs and supplies, maintain its high standards for trauma care and serve growing numbers of the un- and under-insured.
"The future of the public hospital can never be taken for granted," Grumbach says. "Every year, it’s a major struggle to secure the resources needed to maintain the quality of services. But despite the ongoing challenges, there is the reward that comes from knowing that we are working together to make sure that SF General is there for San Franciscans in need, whether it’s the uninsured restaurant worker with high blood pressure or the well-insured business executive injured in a car accident."
For Gelb, the aggravations of the health care system pale in comparison to the gratifications he experiences as an emergency physician. "I have the best job in the world," he says. "Clearly, one of the things I enjoy the most is learning something new every shift I work in the ED – like seeing a patient who presents in a different way with necrotizing fascitis [caused by flesh-eating bacteria]. Working here makes me a better doctor and enhances my ability to teach students and house staff, who are brilliant to begin with."
Source: Lisa Cisneros
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