To San Francisco Health Commission April 6, 2023
Dear Health Commissioners,
The Older Women’s League is particularly concerned about the continued out of county transfers of San Francisco citizens after acute care hospitalizations. Placing patients far away from their family and friends delays their adjustment to their new surroundings and to their continued health and quality of life. Further, family and friends who rely on public transportation to visit loved ones spend hours trying to reach out of county facilities. Citizens of San Francisco who have lived here, worked hard, paid taxes, and consider this their home deserve better.
If Laguna Honda does not achieve recertification or if there are bed cuts, the problem of sending citizens out of county will become even more acute. Our members are currently experiencing the many difficulties with out of county transfers, and the issue is very real to them.
The lack of Skilled Nursing Facilities and Subacute Skilled Nursing beds within San Francisco County needs to be addressed. We have been hearing about the possibility of beds at Chinese Hospital and other places since before the Covid 19 Pandemic. Please give us an update on where these beds stand now, since it is difficult to see that any progress has been made on that front. Finally, the data of transfers at the April 4 Commission Meeting was very welcome, but to get an accurate count of SF citizens transferred, we need to know how many of those transfers were not SF residents. To begin addressing this problem, it is important that the data is complete.
Note: Mr Morewitz/Health Commission Secretary:
Please forward this to the Health Commission in regards to the April 4 Health Commission Meeting, Item #5.
Respectfully submitted,
Melanie Grossman, PhD, MSW
President, Older Women’s League- SF