On Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) submitted a proposal to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors detailing plans for an $887.4 million bond measure to fund construction of a replacement facility for San Francisco General Hospital, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The new facility is needed for the hospital to meet state seismic safety regulations (Fernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/14).
The deadline to meet state seismic regulations is January 2013, but a two-year extension of the deadline is possible (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 5/13).
Gene O'Connell, CEO of the hospital, said that if the facility is not rebuilt, it would be forced to close (Smith, San Francisco Examiner, 5/14).
Newsom said the city has no "more immediate or more important" health care goal than rebuilding the facility (San Francisco Business Times, 5/13).
Rebuilding Plan
The city conducted a two-year, $25 million study in preparation for the rebuilding proposal, which calls for an increase of 32 beds from the current facility (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/14).
Construction of the new facility is likely to cost more than $1 billion, including hundreds of millions of dollars for fixtures, furnishings and equipment that cannot be bought with bond funds.
Construction could begin in the fall of 2010, and the facility could be complete by 2015, assuming the city receives a two-year extension from regulators at the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
City officials said that an environmental impact report will be sent to the Planning Commission in June and that legislation could then be written to place the bond measure on the November ballot (San Francisco Business Times, 5/13).
The bond measure would need two-thirds of voters' approval before construction can begin (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/14).