Supervisors press health officials for details as Laguna Honda cuts beds and plans Clarendon Hall closure

Supervisors and advocates on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee pressed city health officials on Thursday about plans for residents and staff after Laguna Honda Hospital began reducing its census and preparing to close Clarendon Hall.

At the hearing, John Keneally, executive administrator at Laguna Honda Hospital, said the hospital’s fiscal-year average census was 1,016, the current census had declined to about 940, and that between Jan. 1 and April 11 the hospital recorded 234 discharges including 63 deaths. Clarendon Hall’s occupancy fell from 107 to 30, Keneally said, and the hospital expects to close Clarendon Hall by July 1, which would remove the 108 beds that were occupied on Jan. 1.

The data prompted sustained questioning from Supervisor Tom Ammiano and other supervisors about where residents will go, whether community services and housing subsidies are sufficient, and how many staff positions will be affected. Keneally said the hospital had identified 135 full-time-equivalent positions affected by Clarendon Hall’s closure and that, after…