2001-10-15 – What if Disaster Hits SF? We’ve Been There for 10 years!
Wondering, “What if disaster hits San Francisco?”
Don’t wonder. We’ve been in disaster for ten years!
Everyone in government, from George Bush to Mitch Katz, claims to value our safety. Can we trust them?
How is SF’s Public Health system supposed to deal with ANY disaster, terrorist or natural, when ...
... when San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) is overwhelmed with patients every winter, so last year 8 to 10 patients waited 2 to 3 days in the Emergency Room for a bed, and ambulances with critical care patients were diverted over 40% of the time because of lack of beds. Yet DPH closed 20 acute care beds at SFGH last year. They tried to close 20 psych beds, even though the City’s in a mental health crisis and 50% of private psych beds closed in the last 5 years. Combat Bioterrorism? We can’t even deal with flu season!
... when DPH’s proposal for rebuilding SFGH is to construct a 250 bed Acute Care/Trauma Center and move in 225 patients from the current SFGH. 25 extra beds is a totally inadequate cushion for today’s safety net, let alone a disaster. In 1973, the “new” SFGH was licensed for 550 beds. That was considered prudent for the future needs of a public hospital back then. And that was for a smaller population, before the AIDS epidemic, widespread substance abuse, violence, homelessness, and poverty. What kind of future are they planning for us?
... when DPH deliberately keeps one out of every ten positions vacant to hold down costs to meet the City’s budget. Respond to a disaster? We can’t even answer the telephones!
... when Primary Care clinics are so jammed that it takes months to get appointments, even for cancer testing, and some kids don’t get vaccinated because there’s nobody to replace sick workers?
... when the current DPH budget for continuing last year’s services is $40 million less than needed. When DPH didn’t even spend $36 million of last year’s budget, and plans to return last year’s “surplus.” How many patients were denied tests so DPH could save that $36 million? How many indigent patients had to pay for medicines they should have gotten free so DPH could save that $36 million? How many DPH workers had forced overtime or developed hypertension from under-staffing to save that $36 million?
... when the City’s plan is big cuts of in-hospital and out-of-hospital care for most poor/uninsured. DPH has a humanitarian cover for its cutbacks, saying it will seek out the homeless, the mentally ill, and substance abusers. But now SFGH has armed guards turning away patients without IDs, who are just those people and immigrants.
We need to be clear about some things:
Our best defense against terrorism, earthquake, epidemic disease, multi-car highway accidents, plane crashes, etc is a robust, functioning public health system, with lots of reserve capacity.
These dangers always exist when people are crowded into cities, and the City should always be prepared for them. Years ago, in fact, there was a functioning public health system.
From Bush and Clinton down to Brown and Katz, the government that now appoints “anti-terrorism” and “homeland defense” committees, spent the last thirty years gutting public health as well as housing, welfare, education, and every other area that gives us real security in life. They will continue to gut those programs in the name of “the national interest” and “fighting terrorism.”
We cannot trust our safety to the ones who got us into this mess. They will not, and cannot, supply our needs. We will have safety, health, and security to the extent that front-line health workers and patients can gain control of public health. Join us.