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Health director warns federal Title X change could threaten services; health officer reports measles case
Summary
San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Grant Colfax told the Health Commission that a new HHS rule would bar Title X recipients from providing or referring for abortion care and could put other funding at risk; Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon reported one measles case and staff outlined behavioral-health bed expansions funded in part by a $3 million state grant.
San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Grant Colfax on the commission dais on March 5 warned that a newly finalized federal rule revising Title X family planning regulations would bar Title X recipients from performing abortions or referring patients to abortion services and could threaten other funding streams.
"The rules ... state that Title 10 funds would not be allowed to perform abortions or refer patients to abortion services," Colfax said, noting that the department27s Title X allocation is relatively small (about $234,000) but serves over 6,000 patients.
Colfax said a coalition of about 20 states, including California, announced lawsuits after the rule was published and the department is "following the situation very closely." He cautioned the change could extend restrictions beyond Title X-funded programs.
Colfax also briefed commissioners on local behavioral-health capacity: the department received a $3,000,000 state grant to expand outreach to people experiencing homelessness with mental-health and substance-use disorders, and the city opened 14 new behavioral-health beds at Hummingbird Place as part of a broader goal to add 100 new beds by the end of the fiscal year.
"That program is going to help us expand direct medical care, case management, and navigation services to that population," Colfax said.
Separately, San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon reported the city27s first measles case since 2013: an adult resident exposed on an international flight, not from local transmission. Aragon said the department issued a health advisory to clinicians and emphasized that California27s 2015 law (SB 277), which removed most personal-belief vaccine exemptions, has helped maintain high measles vaccination rates compared with some states currently experiencing outbreaks.
"Our first case ... was exposed on an international flight," Aragon said, adding that the department is monitoring the situation and that overall immunization coverage in California remains strong.
Commissioners asked staff to clarify timelines for the bed expansion. When Commissioner Loyce asked whether the 100-bed target was a fiscal- or calendar-year goal, Colfax confirmed the target refers to the fiscal year and staff said they would provide any needed confirmations.
Next steps: the department will continue monitoring legal challenges to the Title X rule and complete analyses of net behavioral-health bed needs across its system; the health advisory on measles remains in effect for clinicians.
