Committee forwards $2.5 million increase for San Francisco General emergency-generator project

The Budget and Finance Committee on Monday forwarded to the Board of Supervisors a resolution to increase an emergency public-works contract cap for San Francisco General Hospital from $18,000,000 to $20,500,000 to complete installation of a permanent emergency electrical generation system.

Carmen Chu, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, opened the meeting and called the item. A presenter for the San Francisco General rebuild project described work that is already underway in the hospital’s existing service building, saying, “This resolution is seeking to increase the current $18,000,000 cap to $20,500,000. And I do want to underscore that the funding is coming from the rebuild,” and explained that additional scope had been absorbed into the generator contract to avoid delays to the larger rebuild.

The presenter said the project has completed basement demolition, had equipment on site and that utility connections were underway. They cited delays by the Office of Statewide Health Care Planning and Development (OSHPD), hazardous-materials abatement in the 40-year-old basement, and the addition of three generators to serve the rebuild as pressures that eroded contingency funds.

Budget analyst Mr. Rose told the committee that combining replacement of all five generators at once saved the city roughly $2,000,000 by keeping the existing contractor, Rubicon General Contracting, on the job. He said rebidding the remaining $2,500,000 of work would cause substantial delays and likely increase costs, and stated, “We recommend that you approve the proposed resolution.”

During public comment, Douglas Yep said he opposed the request, arguing the repairs should have been done earlier and predicting costs could exceed the proposed figure: “In my opinion, the repairs to those generators should have been done a long time ago… I predict that it's going to cost more than 20 and a half million dollars.” An additional unidentified speaker offered a short, expressive public comment but did not raise new budget details.

Supervisor Merc Remy moved to send the item forward with recommendation and Supervisor Kim seconded; Chair Chu said the committee would proceed “without objection,” and the item was advanced to the Board of Supervisors.

Next steps: the resolution will be placed on a forthcoming Board of Supervisors agenda for final consideration.