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Public Health seeks $225 million multi‑year electronic medical record and funding to staff new hospital and shelter health services
Summary
Department of Public Health told the committee it will add 118 FTEs to staff the new San Francisco General Hospital, expand medical respite by 30 beds and invest in a citywide electronic medical record estimated at $225 million over five years. Director Barbara Garcia said the upgrades are needed to meet federal reporting and clinical integration requirements.
The Department of Public Health presented a multi-year budget plan to the Board’s budget committee on June 18 that pairs investments in shelter and mental‑health services with a major technology upgrade for clinical care.
Barbara Garcia, Director of Health, told the committee the department will expand medical-respite capacity by 30 beds and add health workers to shelters to better support vulnerable populations. "We will be opening up stabilization beds and expanding medical respite," Garcia said, describing new shelter-health staffing and a focus on reconnecting people to care.
Greg Wagner, DPH Chief Financial Officer, summarized the fiscal impact: the department’s overall budget will grow by roughly $50 million in FY2015–16 and another $36 million in the following year, pushing the department’s total to just over $2 billion. A substantial component of that growth is the annualization of costs for the new San Francisco General Hospital, including roughly 118 new FTEs needed to staff larger clinical operations.
DPH also presented preliminary plans for an enterprise electronic medical record (EMR). Garcia said the department must unify nine siloed systems, comply with federal outcome reporting, and replace legacy systems that will be unsupported after 2019. Preliminary cost estimates: about $225 million across five years for assessment, vendor selection, infrastructure, implementation and training. "We will be returning to the Board for approval of the EMR contract implementation," Garcia said.
Why it matters: The EMR and hospital staffing have long-term budget and procurement consequences for the city and affect clinical care, federal reimbursements and reporting obligations. The committee heard that a failure to modernize could risk federal revenue streams tied to performance reporting.
What’s next: DPH will return with procurement and contract details for the EMR, staffing plans for SF General’s opening, and updates on shelter and medical respite expansions.
