DPH security director outlines 21-point plan to strengthen hospital safety; commissioners seek six-month follow-up

Basil Price, DPH director of security, told the Health Commission the department has completed a security risk assessment at San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda and 21 clinics and is pursuing a 2015-16 security management plan with 21 identified improvements. "We've identified 16 opportunities for improvement as well as 23 different recommendations," Price said during his presentation.

The proposals include: monthly security performance surveys tied to the MOU with the sheriff's department; a patient-and-staff security work group with executive and nursing leadership; 18 standard operating procedures that clarify DPH expectations for sheriff responses; quarterly facility drills and a program of security alerts and communications; and expanded training, including crisis prevention and intervention. Price said he has provided crisis prevention and personal safety training to about 600 DPH employees to date.

Price described facility and technology upgrades at San Francisco General: a new operations center expanded from roughly 85 to 506 square feet with four dispatch stations; an upgrade to high-definition cameras and installation of 56 additional exterior and elevator-lobby cameras; contact alarms on exterior doors and stairwells that notify the operations center; and additional badge readers to control after-hours elevator and loading-dock access. He said the maternal-child unit is now a secured unit with 24/7 uniform security, card-reader access and a visitor kiosk to screen entrants.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about implementation and equity. Commissioner Mitchell asked how temporary visitor badges will be issued and tracked; Price explained temporary badges are issued in the sheriff's operations center after a supervisor vouches for a visitor and leaves a government-issued ID as collateral. Commissioner Karschmer raised stairwell alarm concerns; Price said alarms can be programmed to avoid constant signals during business hours and are focused on off-hours security.

Several commissioners pressed on training and the role of law enforcement in hospitals. Commissioner Singer asked whether private security would yield more coverage for the same money; Price said private security can provide more bodies, but emphasized benefits of law-enforcement access and suggested opportunities to realign staffing and increase cadet responsibilities for noncriminal disruptive behavior. Singer also asked about training gaps; Price acknowledged the sheriff's deputies lack consistent crisis-intervention training and said the department and sheriff are working to incorporate deputies into DPH critical response training.

Director Barbara Garcia said the department will centralize some security dispatching and incorporate sentinel-event reporting and debriefs into executive oversight. Commissioners asked for continued reporting; the chair and several members recommended a six-month follow-up on MOU implementation, training progress and ambulatory-clinic security plans.

The commission did not take a vote on the security plan itself at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to return with implementation details and regular updates, including sentinel-event summaries and progress on deputy training.