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San Francisco Health Department pauses changes at behavioral health center after repeated citations; community demands beds be reopened
Summary
After years of state citations and staff conflicts at the Adult Residential Facility (ARF) at 887 Potrero, the Department of Public Health placed 41 of 55 licensed ARF beds in suspense; DPH says the pause is temporary while corrective actions are developed, but staff, residents and supervisors urged immediate reopening and management changes.
The San Francisco Health Commission on Thursday heard hours of testimony about why dozens of long-term residential mental-health beds at the Behavioral Health Center (BHC) were put in suspense and what should happen next.
Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network, told the commission that recurring state regulatory citations and ongoing staff performance and workplace conflicts led DPH to ask the state in May to place 27 ARF beds into suspense, leaving 14 beds operating on the building's first floor. "Because there were vacant unstaffed beds upstairs," Pickens said, the department proposed relocating some residents and staff upstairs so remaining staff could work in a less troubled environment while a root-cause analysis and corrective-action plan proceeded. He said the department is developing a performance-improvement plan that will prioritize resident safety and address workplace culture.
The department described a history of enforcement: Pickens recounted corrective-action efforts dating to a 2014 plan and said the ARF had received multiple citations,…
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