Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Healthcare Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board backs $887 million bond plan for rebuilding San Francisco General Hospital and places proposition on November ballot
Summary
Supervisors voted to submit a resolution and related ordinance advancing a ballot measure to fund the rebuilding and seismic retrofitting of San Francisco General Hospital; the board approved a resolution and passed the ordinance on first reading, moving toward a special election in November.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on July 16 approved a resolution and passed an ordinance on first reading to send a bond measure to the November ballot that would fund the rebuilding and seismic retrofit of San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
During an extended discussion about project scope, costs and risk-management lessons from the Laguna Honda Hospital rebuild, Dr. Mitch Katz, director of the Department of Public Health, described the project timeline and cost-estimation approach. Katz said the project’s peer-reviewed cost estimate places total borrowing needs at roughly $887 million and that those estimates reflect updated geotechnical work, an already-completed environmental review and a higher contingency for construction-cost escalation than was used in some past projects.
Supervisor Ellsburn and other board members asked how the city would avoid the schedule and cost overruns seen in past hospital projects. Katz said the earlier delays at Laguna Honda resulted in part from a lack of predevelopment funding and less-complete studies; for San Francisco General the larger predevelopment effort and completed engineering and EIR work reduce that risk. He said the team used higher escalation assumptions (7 percent) and independent peer review to guard against underestimation.
The board adopted a resolution finding that rebuilding and retrofitting the hospital is in the public interest and declared the city’s intent to incur bonded indebtedness; the resolution passed with broad support and the ordinance calling a special election for Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, passed on first reading. Supervisors also added their names as cosponsors of the resolution during the meeting.
What it means: A successful November vote would authorize the city to issue bonds to fund replacement and seismic work at San Francisco General. Department officials emphasized the project is sized to meet seismic-safety requirements and deliver clinical services for the city’s safety-net population; they said the design and procurement approach aims to reduce the kinds of delays that increased costs on prior projects.
Ending: The ordinance calling the special election must complete the city’s legislative steps and campaign materials will follow; voters will decide whether to approve the bond in November.
