Committee continues subacute‑care reporting ordinance after emotional public pleas for local beds

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on March 10 voted to continue an ordinance that would amend demographic reporting for patients transferred out of San Francisco for subacute skilled nursing care, after multiple callers urged the city to act to restore and expand local subacute beds.

Several family members described the personal impact of the shortage. “My sister, Sandra, she has a tracheostomy and needs constant monitoring of her airway... She is one of the 8 remaining subacute patients from the 17 that transferred to CPMC Davies campus,” said caller Raquel Rivera, who asked the Board to pursue three legislative resolutions: require shared responsibility from all hospitals for permanent subacute beds, require a higher nurse‑to‑patient ratio in hospital‑based subacute units, and require hospitals to track how many patients are turned away or discharged out of county and the reasons.

Dr. Teresa Palmer called in to support Rivera and urged better health‑data collection for planning. Gloria Rivera Simpson described the family’s distress at being forced to place a seriously ill relative far from family, and Antonio Rivera and Patrick Manette Shaw urged rapid action. Shaw told the committee that CPMC stopped admissions to its subacute unit from non‑CPMC facilities in 2012 and said St. Luke’s stopped admitting patients who need subacute care in 2018; he also said a planned 23 subacute skilled‑nursing‑facility beds at Chinese Hospital has been delayed, in part because of a $19,000,000 contract for COVID overflow patients.

Chair Gordon Maher said the public comments had prompted additional efforts and that he would work with DPH and colleagues; he moved to continue the item to the March 24 PSNS meeting to allow proposed amendments to be completed. The motion passed on a 3‑0 voice vote.

Action: Ordinance continued to the March 24, 2022 PSNS Committee meeting for further amendments and public input.