San Francisco health department proposes converting two floors at Behavioral Health Center to locked subacute psychiatric beds

At a Health Commission meeting, San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) staff described plans to convert the first and second floors of the Behavioral Health Center on the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital campus into locked subacute mental health treatment units, increasing the city's in‑county locked-bed capacity to about 90 beds.

DPH presenters said the change would allow the city to keep more people needing locked psychiatric care in San Francisco rather than sending them out of county. "It is of no surprise to any of the commissioners that San Francisco is in desperate need of additional locked facility beds," Angelica Hamada, chief integrative officer at ZSFG, told the commission. Eloise, a DPH presenter, said, "Number 1, we want to make sure we can serve everybody as much in the community as possible, as quickly and responsibly as possible." Director Tsai added, "We do not want to be having to send San Francisco residents to Southern California for care at a very complex point in their lives."

Why it matters: DPH officials said the shortage of locked subacute beds interferes with conservatorship and clinical care and has forced some San Francisco residents to be treated far from home. Officials also framed the project as an equity issue, saying people of color are disproportionately affected by conservatorship and by sending patients…