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Nurses and nonprofit contractors urge supervisors to honor staffing commitments and raise nonprofit contract escalators
Summary
Nurses and nonprofit service providers testified at the budget committee hearing that chronic understaffing at San Francisco General Hospital and flat contract funding for nonprofits jeopardize services; nurses asked the board to fund negotiated nursing hires and nonprofits asked for a 3% cost-of-doing-business increase.
Representatives of San Francisco nurses and nonprofit social-service providers asked the Budget & Finance Committee on June 20 to fund staffing commitments and larger contract escalators to keep frontline services intact.
Nurses' negotiator Nato Green, joined by hospital nurses, recalled recent contract negotiations and said the mayor agreed to add nursing positions to meet state staffing goals. David Fleming, a registered nurse at San Francisco General Hospital, described chronic understaffing and asked the board to fund the 15.9 floor nurses and 11.9 ER positions negotiated to match acuity needs.
Nonprofit shelter and social-service leaders described contracts that do not cover real operating costs. Kathy Tajari of Episcopal Community Services said the organization faced a roughly $760,000 shortfall in its shelter contract and requested an add-back of $460,000 to continue housing 534 shelter residents; she urged the board to make up the gap so shelters can continue operating.
Many nonprofit witnesses, supported by union representatives, asked the supervisors to match or exceed the mayor—s proposed 1.5 percent cost-of-doing-business increase and to build an annual CPI-based escalator into contracts. "Every year without a cost-of-doing-business increase that equals CPI is a budget cut," said a Budget Justice Coalition representative.
The committee did not appropriate funds at the hearing; witnesses asked supervisors to include the increases and staffing in final budget deliberations.
