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Mayor and partners celebrate San Francisco General topping-off; Lee announces multi-year public-safety hiring plan and neighborhood grants
Summary
At a topping-off ceremony for the rebuilt San Francisco General Hospital, Mayor Edwin Lee and city partners highlighted job creation, sustainability goals and announced a multi-year plan to hire hundreds of police and firefighters and $1.5 million in grants for neighborhood commercial corridors.
City leaders and project partners on June 7 celebrated the topping-off of the new San Francisco General Hospital and announced related workforce and neighborhood investments.
Barbara Garcia, director of the Department of Public Health, and Sue Curran, hospital executive, welcomed guests and emphasized patient-centered design, seismically safe construction and the hospital's role in research and training. "This new seismically safe hospital building ... will benefit hospital patients to be sure, but it would also bring opportunities to reorganize our clinics," Garcia said.
Representatives of the Department of Public Works and the project contractor highlighted sustainability and local-hire targets. DPW said the building is designed to target LEED Gold and cited projected reductions in energy and water use. A DPW speaker said the project engaged more than 140 local business enterprise contractors and that Webcor is tracking 41% local hire.
Mayor Edwin Lee used the ceremony to announce a multi-year public-safety staffing plan. He said the city will fund six police-academy classes over the next 24 months, with an initial budget to hire 300 officers (50 per class) in fiscal years 2012–2014 and continued classes aimed at meeting the city-charter target of 1,971 full-duty officers by June 2018. He also announced six fire-academy classes over the next six years and a class of EMTs slated to begin in July, which the mayor said would help reduce overtime and address retirements.
Lee also announced $1.5 million in additional grants for neighborhood commercial corridors over 18 months and $4 million for a small-business loan program over two years, part of the "Invest in Neighborhoods" initiative designed to support about 25 commercial corridors via revolving loans, cleaning programs, storefront arts grants and a centralized vacancy database.
Project leaders said the hospital's emergency department will expand from 27 beds to 60 beds with surge capacity up to 120 during a disaster, and the rebuilt campus will support research activities and teaching tied to UCSF. The San Francisco General Hospital Foundation was invited to help raise funds for furniture and equipment.
Next steps: Fundraising for final furnishings will continue, and city hiring and grant programs announced by the mayor will proceed through the budget and departmental implementation processes.
