Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
DPH outlines bed-optimization model and COVID-era priorities; supervisors press for care-coordination costs
Summary
Department of Public Health presented a bed optimization model that recommends targeted bed increases paired to long-term housing, described COVID-driven shifts (telehealth, SIP hotels) and outlined four budget priorities; supervisors demanded clearer costing and an Office of Care Coordination implementation plan.
San Francisco Department of Public Health officials told the Board's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee that COVID-19 redirected staff and complicated behavioral-health workflows but also created operational footholds — including shelter-in-place (SIP) hotel clinical teams — that can be scaled toward the Mental Health SF blueprint.
"We have been in full response mode with the citywide COVID activation," Hallie Hammer, director of ambulatory care for the Health Network, told the committee. She described telehealth scaling from roughly 12 percent of encounters before the pandemic to more than 60 percent during the public-health emergency and said DPH has maintained contact with more than 85 percent of its established behavioral-health clients.
Dr. Anton Nagueusa Bland, the department's mental health reform lead, presented a…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
