to downplay the adverse affects of building a hospital at the cathedral hill location. all one has to do is drive around the area to realize that the location is a very poor choice on which to build. the traffic and congestion will more than quadruple within the hospital. the major disaster, access to the hospital, will be very difficult. while cpmc focuses on efforts to rebuild, the existing facilities are being neglected and are deteriorating to the extent that patient and employee safety is in jeopardy. trade unions that have spoken in favor of the current plan to rebuild are being duped into believing that cpmc has their best interest at heart. i stand before you today having stood in the street for the past five weeks fighting for a contract, which cpmc has failed to negotiate with us.

as an employer, cpmc has become a tyrant in their treatment of their employees. using the rebuilding as an excuse to cut staff, cut full- time employment, and paid substandard wages to the working class employees, their refusal to ensure employees who belong to a union the ability to keep their jobs and transfer to a new facility clearly exposes their anti-union agenda. they are discriminating against the san francisco citizens that can least afford health care. their plan of building more and maximizing profits at and minimizing services in the less profitable area, mayor lee use the potential of a major earthquake to suggest that this project go through. one did occur after cathedral hill and say clemens were built, the reality is that 80 beds at the same loose facility would

not be enough. trying to transfer patients would be extremely difficult. cpmc should not be allowed to minimize the importance of a full-service hospital at st. luke's. i have learned, through experience, that cpmc's actions speak louder than their spoken or written words. the current plan to rebuild is not in the best interest of the city, the citizens, and the employees of this medical center. let common sense and fairness prevail to all and rebuild cpmc the right way. thank you. commissioner borden: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. excuse my voice. i have been out on the street, put out on the street by my employer for five weeks. my name is rahmon and i am a member of stationary engineers

local 39 and i have been for 24 years. i was an employee of california pacific medical center for 24 years until my employer put me out on the street. we have been working without a contract for 18 months. we were seeking a contract in parity with the contracts that have already been signed by engineers at other sutter health affiliates and 19 other hospitals. no more, no less. i am not here to oppose the construction of a new hospital. we encourage it because it will bring union jobs to the city. be a temporary, but we urge them to build it the right way. labor peace should be established. st. luke's should be expanded. to quote a harvard professor, " most of us are so eager to

implement the right answer that we forget whether the right question has been asked." i urge the members of the planning commission to ask the right question and not be satisfied until you get the right answer. will the jobs available at the new hospital the union jobs? we do not know. when the new hospital is built, will the union employees be offered union jobs in that new hospital? right now, local 39 is on strike and without a contract for the past 18 months. california campus nurses have been working without a contract for over five years. the campus has non-union employees and are paid more than their california campus counterparts. is there construction money from -- is the construction money coming from the backs of

employees? this was confirmed by a cpmc spokeswoman in an article in the san francisco bay guardian. that is available online, entitled "cpmc strike linked to a new hospital." she was asked if the cost of the hospital was a factor in lowering wages. she said the primary issue is equity, but we have a $1 billion rebuild that we have to fund? yes. because of the way health care is going, we have to rebuild. basically, we ask that you ask the questions, the right questions, and receive the right answers. thank you. commissioner borden: thank you. >> commissioners, my name is

lee. i am an owner -- a homeowner in san francisco at inner sunset. i am also on the board of directors of the van ness corridor association and we support the cpmc project. this hospital and the rebuild will bring 24-7 activity and safety to our core and neighborhood in particular. the increase in business activity alone will provide additional jobs at my facility, which is a medium-sized hotel. 10-15 new, permanent, full-time jobs. the people that are in my staff currently, 80% of them live and work either in the tenderloin or in the mission district. new jobs, you cannot hardly do without. also, we have talked about lots

of different things. i remember during the stadium build, those hearings that went around it, the same kind of questions were asked about at&t stadium. if you look at that area now, you are looking at a major improvement in an area that was not like that. this hospital will do that for our neighborhood. our businesses, the residential, individuals who live in the neighborhood. my staff will increase, spend money in this neighborhood. this -- the people spending money at the local coffee shops and restaurants will increase. it is a huge addition to our neighborhood and it will revitalize this entire area, which is in desperate need are revitalization.

if you walk up and down van nuys, storefront after storefront is closed. that could change with your vote today. the increase, also, is the additional revenue. we are projecting anywhere from 15,000-$20,000 of extra room nights. the city gets 14% of that additional revenue. the convention bureau gets 1.5% rate is not just about this area. it will benefit the entire city, from the visitors' bureau to the city's revenue. we urge you to really look at this and say it is good for our area, good for the city. in addition, we will spend millions of dollars on refurbishing this hotel. an additional bonus that just happens to be because of this hospital.

we totally, really, truly urge you to support this project. thank you. >> if your name has been called, come on up to the podium. cecile, leonard, joe, patrick, tera, david, vu. if your name has been called, come on up. >> thank you, president long and commissioners. my name is tera. i am a cpmc employee and patient and i support rebuilding cpmc. i work as cpmc for 15 years. my role as the patient relations coordinator allows staff to do a credible job within the limits of our current facility grid it

takes a great effort to maintain the privacy and dignity of patients in a semi-private room. in my role, i hear concerns from patients and families relating to the small, outdated rules we currently have at cpmc. the proposed facilities would alleviate these concerns as well as many others. it would ensure that the citizens of san francisco have access to state-of-the-art health care. at multiple sites within the city. i am not only an employee, but a patient. in 2008, an emergency room physician look beyond the symptoms are presented with and showed i have -- i had multiple pulmonary l.i. -- emboli. i had the unique opportunity to interact with our staff as a patient. this gave me a unique opportunity. i was lucky enough not to have a semi-private room, but could

appreciate how difficult that would be. every day, i see our staff and physicians make a difference in the lives of our patients and families, some who travel great distances to be treated at cpmc. every day, i am thankful that cpmc and are taught not staff was in san francisco when i needed them. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. thank you for this opportunity to speak and -- in support of the rebuilding project for the california pacific medical center. my name is maxine. i'm representing a businesswoman -- i have been a business woman in san francisco for over 40 years. i am currently president of the national coalition of over 100 black women, the san francisco chapter. we have had a partnership with cpmc for seven years.

we are joining them in the continued fight against breast cancer with their no cost african-american breast health program. so that uninsured african- american women continue to receive no cost screening and treatment for breast cancer. cpmc is the annual sponsor of our luncheon that recognizes and encourages outstanding women in business, literary, community work. in 2012, our major agenda will be to work with cpmc to bring men and women from our community to cpmc for better health and access to better health care. cpmc's project is important for the future of health in san francisco. the new proposed hospital would provide access for all set for assistance, regardless of income levels. we support a new health care facility that will include a state of the art and modern equipment for all san

franciscans. it is the stronghold of our community that this board will vote in favor of the cpmc rebuild. thank you. president fong: thank you. next speaker, please. >> thank you, president pham and commissioners for your time. my name is natalie. i have been a resident of san francisco for 11.5 years. i support rebuilding cpmc. in 2008, i started working as a camp for cpmc. i was eventually hired by a general contractor to work on the project. without these projects, i may have never maintained employment brought the economic crisis. i have children that were born at st. luke's. as a member of that community, i was fortunate to have access to health care in close proximity to where i live. i as well as many residents and

patience, would be pleased to see this hospital get a much- needed to upgrade. campus neighborhoods surrounding will benefit from the new facilities. all the while, cpmc has promised to continue providing exceptional health care to all its patients. the construction of these projects are critical because they will benefit the work force, families, the local economy, and our future generations to come. voting yes assures people will have jobs and a safe place to go when they are in need of medical care. i thank you for your time and i ask that you please vote yes today. thank you. president fong: thank you. >> thank you, president long and commissioners, for the opportunity to speak with you again today. my name is michael and i am the executive director of compassionate care.

we are a hospice that has been in said for cisco and has served more than 1000 san franciscans. the reason we are supportive of the cpmc expansion, i have heard a lot of people talk about the lack of charity care that cpmc is providing that they feel is inadequate. i have no idea how those figures are calculated but i can tell you that my team would not have provided necker had it not been for cpmc. they sold us the building that we are and in 1995 at half its appraised value because people were dying on the streets and needed somewhere to go. we were able to provide that with their support. they have been general supporters since. i was here during the earthquake. i was in the marina. i experienced the fear, the paralysis of the city during

that time. we got away lucky that time. we may not be as lucky the next. the importance of having adequate medical facilities that can care for san franciscans is really important. i look at the bay bridge. it has been 23 years since the bay bridge had a collapse. it is still not rebuilt. please, let's not repeat that mistake. let's get a hospital mist -- a hospital bill that can prepare the city. an earthquake will come. it is just a matter of when. i would hate to see us caught short-handed. president fong: next speaker, please, if your name has been called. >> good afternoon. my name is leonard. i am a native of san francisco. i was an employee with cpmc's california campus for 16 years on march 26 of last month.

what we do is provide patient care and safety. what you do see, you see the options in line, the nurse calls, the vital monitors. that is what we maintain. behind the scenes, we maintain the power plants, the emergency generator, the critical equipment, nitrous oxide, air- conditioning, heating. on my campus, i have engineers that have been there for over 30 years. under our watch, for 24-7 for 30 + years, we have never had a patient been injured or worse under our watch. during the strike, we of been on

strike for about 35 weeks now. our replacement is there. they have no clue the commitment that we maintain. for example, yesterday, we have a major flood. it flooded over seven floors. the sentences, fire department had to arrive to turn off the main water supply. these are people that they replaced us with to maintain this critical equipment, patient care and safety. that is what cpmc regards our value and that the patients value. thank you. >> thank you, president fong and commissioners. my name is paula and i am a resident of san francisco and a volunteer at california pacific medical center. i support rebuild cpmc and i

hope you will also. i volunteer as a way of giving back to my community. years ago, i was able to receive sliding scale services from cpmc and those services saved my life. one of my jobs @ cpmc has been to greet and escort young adults from galileo high school to help academy. as a visit various departments within cpmc. i have been to at least 15 different departments with the students and to a person, i find the staff engaging, encouraging, and excited about their work, the work that they do there. i was going to say something about seismic safety, however, the seismic experts said it much

better than i can. in conclusion, i want to ask you to support rebuild cpmc. we need the facilities for the future and safety of all of our citizens and we need seismically up-to-date medical facilities. thank you very much and i encourage you to support this project. president fong: ok, elsie, javier, anna, robert. if i have called your name, come on up. maggie, nancy, don, april.

hang on. one second. we have like 100 left. commissioner moore: they are not going to go away. we need a break, i think. president fong: hold your thought. i appreciate it. we will take a 5-10 minute >> the planning commission is back in session. if i could have everyone's attention for just a moment. i am going to remind everyone to silence or turn off your cell phones because i know all of them -- all of you were on them during the break. also, we are still in public comment. we still have all of you and i believe there are a few more people downstairs who i would encourage to come upstairs at this point. we still have over one hour of

public comment. then there has to be commissioned deliberation. for every one that can hear me that is here for the four- o'clock calendar, please note that the planning commission will not start that calendar before 7:00 p.m. if you need to go away and come back, that is fine. you can go down and make yourselves comfortable until we start that hearing. we will not start that hearing before 7:00 p.m. if you are in the room and you get this message, if you could convey that to your clients or friends outside, that would be helpful. as the president calls your name, thank you for lining up on the far wall. if you could line up over there as opposed to by the door, we would appreciate that. president fong: ok. thank you. >> thank you, commissioners. good afternoon.

my name is harvey heir. i am with the local 61. -- my name is javier. i am with the local 261. i am here to speak in favor of this project. the last two or three years, we have been suffering, not enough work for our members. this is one of the best opportunities that we ever had, planning to have our members come back to work. as a business agent for my union, i am obligated not only to support a project that is going to provide work to our members, but also to represent them. this is the way our opinion, it is one of the best times to

start new construction on a project. this project, it is going to benefit not only our members, it is clear to benefit all of the unions involved in construction. i do not think there is not a single union that is going to get some kind of benefit by doing this project. you know, the -- one of the things that this project -- in our case, it is going to create problems -- i am sorry, create jobs for our members. at the same time, some of our members, i will say, out of my head, about 70% of our members,

they use their services. it is something that we're looking forward for the community to approve. please vote yes on this project. thank you. president fong: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my she says good morning, but i will address you this afternoon. good evening. thank you, honorable president chiu and supervisors for hearing this item and allowing us to address you this morning, this afternoon, evening. my name is lee. imf program counselor. we serve san francisco residents with low to moderate incomes who are job-seekers as well as employers looking to hire from our pool of sentry cisco presidents. i strongly support the cpmc plan to rebuild two new hospitals, one at st. luke's and one at van

ness. these projects will not only provide the promise of jobs and world-renown health care, but will actually deliver on the promise for now and the future. a promise of jobs in the area of construction, medicine, administration, and more. your legacies, the building of a strong center cisco economic future and the economic future of all future residents who will be employed. we ask that you see your role as voting yes as so important because it would not only help move us through the economic downturn that we find ourselves in the midst of, but actually passed that downturn and into an economic boom of jobs, income, and the ability to spend those salaries in our great city. in our work admission hiring hall, with san francisco residents, in order to help them become more job ready, we encourage them to let no

opportunity go by, which could have made a major difference in their futures. i asked this of each of you. please consider this to be such a major opportunity to make such a difference in so many lives. please give that opportunity to those who are fighting so hard to improve their lives. please use your abilities to afford them those opportunities to get jobs they need and deserve. thank you very much for your time and especially your consideration. please support cpmc's project. thank you. president fong: thank you. >> hello. my name is prior -- is brian and i volunteer organizer. unfortunately, nancy was not able to stay. she was the only endocrinologist south of market for many years. practicing as a loose for 36

years, 35 of them in the same office. sutter has refused to allow our to lease and office space that she can afford. they are charging her for five years, back increasing for charges of living, even though they were cashing her checks all along. she led a fight to support rate hikes on doctors that were going to drive some out of practice. in fact, one pediatric gent -- one pediatric dentist, one of only five who used to treat people on the peninsula, has retired because of those rate hikes. we want to know how they're going to increase charity care when they are driving out the doctors who have provided the most charity care in their system. we are also concerned about the situation at san leandro. they are announcing that will shut down the hospital within 90 days. they used a similar clause to

the 1% klaus over at east bay, where they said if san leandro loses money for two years, they can take it over, after they did do after a lengthy legal battle. now they are announcing that they want to close it. we have a lot of other concerns in terms of mental health. we have doctors and some others at s.f. general and their union is on diversion. it has to do with how the state defines acutely mentally ill. they are using their standards for what is not acute as an excuse not to pay. this is >> in terms of charity care, there was two university doctors training medical and nursing students at st. luke's for free providing excellent, for free providing excellent, excellent charity care and