>> thank you, everybody, for your patience. i'm san francisco mayor london breed. and we're here today at city hall with a number of city officials as well as our community partners to talk about one of our favorite times of the year, 4/20. we know in the past we have not been smiling about 4/20. in fact, it experienced a number of challenges and fortunately from the past we have learned how to adapt, how to adjust, and how to make the event a more enjoyable event not just for the people who come from all over the pay area to attend, but

especially for the people who live in the surrounding community and the san franciscans commuting home from work at that time. and i want to start by saying it is a tough two years. and here we are back together again. back having great events. and in fact, this past week the giants and their home opening season happened at oracle park. yesterday for the first time in 1964, the warriors played a playoff game in san francisco, which was really exciting. and this weekend the cherry blossom festival was packed with visitors. people are coming back and covid is a challenging two years for us. what we are seeing with the number of people who are vaccinated and what we are

seeing because of all the precautions that we have taken over the past two years that we are living with covid. and at the same time we are seeing a significant difference in how we are able to come together because we have adapted and now as a result, we're able to have major events and to enjoy our lives once again. and of course, 4/20 is no different. we know that this event at one point, unsanctioned event, was occurring whether we wanted it to or not. and over the years and working with the cannabis industry, we have been able to make adjustments in order to provide the appropriate safety and restroom facilities and cleanup necessary in order to ensure that this was not as problematic on the people who live and visit the area. and provide additional transportation and other things

that were very much problematic in the past. eventually we were lucky to have alex step up as a native san franciscan and someone who understands and works within the industry to step up and to coordinate it and make it a more organized event. and so he is yet again stepped up this year to provide sponsorship so this event will have food, entertainment, and for the first time because of changes to local state laws, there will be on site cannabis sales at the location. and what that means, to be clear, whether there are sales or not, the fact is under state law if you are under the age of 21, you will not be allowed within the facility. so this is going to be the first time that this is done. you will be turned away as prof of age will be required.

we will have the various city agencies and the area to address some of those challenges. we know that when people begin to lead the event we will have bus shuttle services to take people directly to bart. traffic will be challenging but we will do everything that we can with our parking control officers to mitigate and manage traffic during this time. we will make sure the area is clean and if someone is parked in your garage, they will be tikt and towed. we will do everything we can to make sure this experience is not as problematic as it has been for the people of san francisco and neighbors. and just so you all are aware, i checked the weather. there is a 40% chance of rain. who knows what may or may not happen on 4/20. but the fact is regardless, we are prepared.

we will have police officers, parking patrol officers, park police officers, and a number of other officials in the surrounding area to manage this event in a way that not only makes it an enjoyable and safe place for all those who are coming but more importantly, we want to make sure that the city is able to host this just like any other major event so that people are safe and people have an enjoyable time. i want to thank all of you for being here today and we will have a number of our partners here from the city department talk specifically what the plans are and roles are to be prepared with the respective departments. we will start with the director of the department of rec and park phil ginsburg. >> thank you, mayor. as the mayor said, after two

long years, we are almost looking forward to this kind, kind of, sort of. it is thrilling to have big celebrations in the park again. and the beloved park was a lifesaver during the pandemic and where everybody could be outside and pursue the physical health and mental community and it continues to be on oasis for fun and reflected on the other parts of the city, the park is hopping, but. let's show our appreciation for our amazing park and the respected reserves and encourage people to have fun and celebrate, but throwaway your trash. take transit, and treat the neighborhood and a the park as if it was your own. the mayor highlighted is changes. you cannot get into the event if you are not 21 years old. and not only -- we will be checking i.d. and we will also be checking vaccination status.

be prepared for that. and then lastly, just a big thanks. the mayor when she was supervisor kind of went out on a limb on this. you tried to figure out acknowledging this is an event that had been happening to our city before cannabis was legal. and the mayor really thought through how to acknowledge this happens and how to do it safely. and even somewhat joyously. four or five years later we have gotten better at this and a tremendous amount of infrastructure, trash cans, port-a-potties, and we have beginning, middle and end of our event. for that in addition to thanking the mayor and all my colleagues who are city departments here, i wanted to thank alex and katrina of sounds bizarre as well as their sponsors for providing the infrastructure to keep the park safe and to be kind and respectful of the neighborhood.

and so with that, this is a joint effort. and i will bring up nakesh patel from the office of cannabis. thank you. >> that was going to be my pun. thank you for taking that. good morning, everyone. much like director ginsburg, we want to thank the mayor for making this event possible and for supporting it and all the city departments who are here including those that are also not here who we have been working with tirelessly for the past several months to make sure this event creates a safe and fun experience for everyone included. with that i also want to thank alex aquino and his team for working so closely with our office. 4/20 at hippie hill will be experiencing an extraordinary moment in the history. legal cannabis will be available

for sale and consumption at the event for the first time in the event's history. that is a special moment and fitting for those in san francisco. and how this event goes will dictate how future events in this case, cannabis permitted events, will go. the success of this event will set the tone for other events. it is fitting that this is one of the first events that the office of cannabis and it is important we get this right. they are at their bottom to create a safe and clean and fun experience for everyone who attend. it is imperative they are followed. and as mentioned here a handful of times, per state regulations no, one under the age of 21 will be permitted into the event. i.d.'s will be checked. another big event is cannabis will be available for purchase on site from approved vendors.

these are lab tested products, regulated product, and they are vital to ensuring that this experience is safe for everyone who is there. that being said, we are encouraging everyone who plans to i a tend to purchase their products from the approved vendor. it is imperative from a public health and safety standpoint and particularly the equity cannabis dispensaries and equity products that have worked to get the products on to open the businesses and carve a footprint in san francisco's cannabis industry. i additionally, cannabis will be allowed within the marked perimeter of the event. there are areas where no smoking will be enforced, and there will be signs. additionally, within 20 feet of anywhere you can purchase cannabis and food and those will be smoke-free zones. this is an amazing opportunity to show case the cannabis

community and to follow the requirements and be respectful of your neighbors and have a light time. and with that, i invite officer chief scott to the podium. >> thank you, nakesh. good morning, everybody. not to reiterate -- well, i will reiterate because that is my job. i want to eare iterate a few thing -- to reiterate a few things that the mayor mentioned and the director and nakesh as well. no one under 21 will be permitted and we know in the past families have come out and teenageers have been invited to the event, sometimes by parents. please, please, take heed to the rules. no one under 21 because if you bring teenagers or kids, they will not be admitted. also, no drones. no alcohol, no illegal, no weapons, period, legal or otherwise. no vending, no bbqs, no pets and

things of that nature. this is all about safety. we want people to come out and enjoy themselves and as has been said but all the speakers so far, we have to get this right. and like most things, let's show the world that san francisco knows how to do things and know how to do them right. and we need your cooperation and we need people to follow the rules. and we will be there in full force. and they have officers that are at the command post at the park and a command post at park station. and patrolling the perimeter of hippie hill and the surrounding areas. and working with the partners and the parking control officers under the director of leadership tumlin that you will hear from in a second. and follow the rules of the road. as the mayor said, if you are blocking drive waist or parking illegally, you will be cited. and you will most likely be towed as well.

in the best case scenario, help us out and make it a great event and show the world that san francisco leads the way. and now i will introduce one of my partners in public safety, chief janine nicholson from the fire department. >> thanks, chief scott. good morning, everyone. and the fire department has a couple of roles here. we are fire prevention. personnel will be on scene during the entire event making sure that everything is safe from a fire department perspective. i know there will be a medical plan in place for the event that includes e.m.s. we are not staffing that, but we are up staffing our units, our medic units on the outside to be

able to respond appropriately and quickly. we want everybody to have a good time and a safe time and please keep an eye out for each other out there. there is all sorts of stuff that might get into something you take, not from this authorized place, but keep an eye on your friends. and call 911 if you need us. and i would now like to introduce the director of the sfmta, jeff tumlin. >> thank you, chief. as should come as no surprise to any of you, if you want to enjoy 4/20 day safely and fully, please do not drive. all of the muni lines serving golden gate park are fully operational. if you are coming from downtown or bart, we urge you to take

either the 78 bus or transfer to the n judah which will get additional service on 4/20. we have upgraded many of the bike routes throughout san francisco during covid and there is a car free route from the panhandle all the way to ocean beach through golden gate park. please take muni, walk, or bike to the event. for additional details, we urge you to go to the sfmta website at sfmta.com/420. we'll be writing updates there as well as on our twitter feed. please come and enjoy 4/20 day safely. thank you so much. and now back to mayor breed. >> thank you, jeff. i just want to reiterate many of the parking control officers will be directing traffic and will be in the area to respond to 311 complaints if someone is

blocking someone's driveway or if someone is illegally parking and in such a way that might be problematic to public safety. and people who live in the area, call 311 and the response team will be very quickly on 4/20 to insure that people are not impacted by people who will choose to drive and maybe park in a way that might be problematic for the people in the community. i also want to take this opportunity to remind us of what could happen if things become unruly or problematic. and we are all here as phil ginsburg said, reluctantly welcoming 4/20 unlike in the past. more so because, of course, we support our cannabis industry and we support people being able to come together safely and in we have to make changes if these events become harmful or unsafe in any way.

we will do so. and many of us probably remember the unsanctioned event of halloween and the castro which unfortunately is no longer, is something that i used to love to attend. but it got to a point where it became increasingly safe and finally elevating to, sadly a shooting that led to this unsanctioned event no longer existing in san francisco and the way it did before. and we hope that doesn't happen with 4/20. and we're asking everyone who comes to attend this event to come with excitement and happiness and a desire to have joy during the event and here to talk a little bit about what will actually be happening on the ground who is coordinating all the activities is alex. >> thank you, mayor. i am one of the organizers and city partners with this event.

thank you. so i want to be on the lighter side of what is actually going on. anyway, echoing the office of cannabis, we encourage people to purchase legal and safe tested product. and products from the vendors on site and from the local businesses. we are community in cultural event and based on sponsorship and donation and any support of this in the corridor of the neighborhood, we actually put 30 port-a-potties within the neighborhood for people to use, so when you come to the neighborhood, use the port-a-potties an not the neighbor's door front. being said, keep it safe and clean. and that is the main thing. we need to make it fun and at the same time make it -- happy occasion and fun occasion. and that being said, we are

proud to have re/max as the presenting sponsor. and back to the programming and a dedication to robin william. we know robin williams meadow was renamed several years ago and doing a dedication to him and a mural on eighth street from masonic. and we are doing programming with comedians jeff ross and hannah birch and the d.j. dozer and his set is dedicated to robin williams each year. and again, we are doing something new this year. it is like we teamed up with united players for a community and compassion award. and giving it to eve meyer who is a retired executive director for the census and suicide prevention and has been saving lives for 30 years.

we want to give her flowers while she is here and we want to celebrate here. that is some of the programming that we are doing today or on 4/20. thank you. >> thank you, alex. thank you for putting together such a great program. there will be performances, food, music, cannabis, and all the money you spend at this event pretty much supports the businesses and also provides financial support to continue to make sure that the port-a-potties are available, that all the things we need to do to make this event safe and that it is supported and appreciate alex and his sponsors who are coming together. and i will say jeff ross is funny and you probably don't want to miss that along with the other things that go on. and thank you to all of the city departments and thank you to all of our community sponsors. and thank you to the people who

regularly attend 4/20 because i will say that sense we have been a lot more organized from the city side, it is really been a great event for san francisco, one that we're proud of and can continue to be proud of moving into the future. and with that, we'll open it up to any questions related to the event. [question inaudible] >> you have been critical of 4/20 in the past. do you think cannabis can be a viable part -- >> an i think you are mischaracterizing the criticalness. it had a lot to do with, sadly, the damage to the neighborhood. there were a number of real challenges to people's homes and businesses after the 4/20 event let out.

there was also issues with people who were blocking people's driveways and the traffic was a nightmare. there was no real involvement at one point from the city in terms of any sort of structure or management. i mean, this is a large event. and there are a lot of people who attend the event. and then there were a lot of people who were underage. let's also remind the public under the law there technically is no smoking in the park. so the criticism had a lot to do with not necessarily the marijuana industry, but how the impact of 4/20, which was an unsanctioned event created a little bit of chaos and problems for the city. not to mention the ability to get out of san francisco. i mean, you should have seen not just the upper hate but the lower hate and what happened with people who were not only on the sidewalk and spilled into the street and cars couldn't go past and it was a mightary.

my criticism had everything to do with the fact that the city was not prepared for what was happening with h 4/20. instead of making it difficult to make 4/20 happe i along with former mayor ed lee, came together to make it better, safer, and deal with the transportation challenges. in fact, the city from that point forward before there was a sponsor continued to spend the enormous amount of resources to ensure the safety of the people who not only attend this event but the people who live in the community. a lot of the change and the excitement has everything to do with actually having a sponsor to help pay for the expenses. having some various structure and organization to ensure that we know what is going on and i will say the last 4/20 that happened if you were there after

it was over and we had the signage and leading up to 4/20 and telling people to be aware and traffic impact and secondly, when it was over, the muni shuttle buses taking people downtown and no stops and it just worked so well and is something we can be really proud of. and as a city official, my responsibility is to the people of san francisco. and making sure no matter what kind of event it is at large-scale event and don't have a negative impact on the neighborhood and people are safe. and really where many of the criticism came from and not necessarily at the industry.

we have a lot of cannabis industries and in the city and the state is going to be the impact and with the various areas and with this event and the financial impacts on the city and i would say that you are losing money and more so than making money and people come to san francisco and not the economic impact and cannabis as a whole and the industry plays the important role in the

economy and we want to make sure that in addition to the economic role, that we maintain the level of safety and security and regulation. [question inaudible] >> i have director tumlin comment on the mask mandate. we are living with covid and it is a part of what is going to be. the biggest difference is we have vaccines and we have a lot of people who are getting

vaccinated and even as we see this new variant, what we are finding under the information from the department of health and people are getting infected but more than likely they are not going to the hospital and we have always been concerned about the number of people hospitalized and dying from covid. and i think because of the vaccine and the time that we have been in this and the department of public health has lifted a number of mask mandates and a number of other requirements which gives us comfort in hosting this event of this magnitude. and san francisco was the first city to shut down and we have

been the most conservative and the department of health and allowing people in chase arena not to wear a mask or ball park and indoor and outdoor, it is significant. and i am not as concerned and i will let the director tumlin talk about what will happen with transportation. >> thank you for the promotion. i am jeff tumlin, director of the sfmta and the judge on the east coast struck down the federal mask mandate. and currently we are following the mask mandate and more importantly, as we have always done, from the very begibbing of

the pandemic, sfmta will closely follow the direction from the department of health and the federal government and tracking the data about how to halt covid transmission on public transit. what is clear all over the world is public transit has never been a significant transmission source for the virus. part of the reason is that air filtration and air turnover is so good on public transit. and muni, the air comploetly turns over at least once every minute, far better than any other indoor space any of us is in. while we recommend that meme wear masks, we don't believe it is actually necessary in order to insure that public transit is safe and will be responding to whatever health guidance we receive from the experts.

>> all right. i don't see the enthusiasm for 4:20 and you guys are all over us. and we might take the day off and go out there ourselves. >> we are walking this fiep line. what does that look like? >> with any large-scale event, making sure that the right resources are available for

safety. this event came together and is a very organic way. and it's evolved and become a place people are attracted to versus someone like the outside land folks who came in to cover their bases to insure safety. this one we had to adapt. the reluctance comes from allowing the event to be what it's always been to people and not overregulating but at the same time we have no choice with the scale of the event to incorporate for the neighbors to have better experiences and if that continues, it is not a

question and this is an event we know can continue and we are concerned with what people lace marijuana with in light of the number of overdose deaths in san francisco. we are mindful of the different impact and what that will mean. my hope is people understand the significance of why it is important to follow the rules and stay safe and at the same time, not add any other dynamics to it. public safety is probably the real reason why we're most concerned, but ultimately, we're excited to bring most events back including this one. and looking forward to its success. thank you.

good morning everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london

breed. and today i'm here to talk about laguna honda hospital and i'm joined by the director of department of public health dr. grant colfax as well as the director or laguna honda michael phillips and located in supervisor melgar and we also have a representative from our speaker of the house nancy pelosi's office, her director, dan bernal. we're here to talk specifically about what we know have been challenges at laguna honda hospital. for over 150 years, this facility has been a beacon of hope. it's been a place that has cared for those who could not care for themselves and, in fact, it has survived the 1906 earth quake and during the pandemic, there were those who thought laguna honda would be

similar to many of these care facilities around the country that we would see covid spread rampedly and people die in significant numbers and although we lost six people at laguna honda due to covid, we worked really hard to ensure the safety of the patients there. the people who worked there, the doctors, the nurses, the counselors, they were essential workers and they showed up to work every day to care for these patients and san francisco was a model in how these skilled nursing facilities can do it right as it relates to protecting patients especially during covid. we were very proud. and i had no doubts because i saw this care firsthand for over ten years as my grandmother who suffered from dementia, this is where she lived. this is where the nurses made

her smile. of this is where they painted her nails and did her hair and made sure even though she was in a facility where there wasn't much she could do that there was still a little bit of fun or excitement in her life. i've seen time and time again how these nurses would make arrangements to take these patients to experience things outside the facility so they can feel alive again. this work is hard work. and sometimes people get exhausted. and as a result, things may not necessarily happen according to code. what we've seen in laguna honda hospital with a notice that we received is a request to make things right. and we have been well on our way to making things right, to improving the conditions, doing things we didn't do before. so, for example, there was some concerns about things getting into laguna honda that should not come into laguna honda and,

in fact, part of the solution has been to make changes to how people enter. family members, visitors alike. and at one point when i went into laguna honda to see my grandmother, i would just sign in, put who i was going to see and room number. unfortunately, because of the challenges we're experiencing, that has all had to change. and now, dr. colfax will talk a little bit about what those changes are, but now it means significant changes to laguna honda, who goes in, who goes out. how we provide patient care, how we provide support. in order to address some of the challenges that existed before, we've made significant changes. we knew that there would be state and federal officials at laguna honda this week to pay very close attention to everything that we were doing and making recommendations in order to ensure that we are

first and foremost protecting the patients. making sure that they are safe. making sure that no harm comes to them and also supporting and uplifting the staff. laguna honda is a special place and, in fact, during the visit, what was seen were a number of things that we know can be corrected. someone who may not have taken off their gloves in a timely manner. signage in a needs to be posted to ensure that people are away of what they're walking into. some things that in comparison to a couple months ago are things that are not only minor but can also be so we still

have a long road ahead of us. there's still work to be done. but this pandemic has demonstrated not only to the city, but to the country what we are capable of doing when we focus on insuring life safety of the patients of this facility and the employees. the people who were essential workers. the people who were working to exhaustion to take care of the patients of laguna honda in some cases at the expense of their own family. we know how valuable this facility is and our plan is to do everything we can in light of recent events to ensure that it remains open. that it remains a place of refuge for those who cannot care for themselves. that it remains in the shape that we know it needs to be to continue to do that. and here to talk more

specifically about where we are, what's actually happening at laguna honda and what we plan to do to continue to ensure that this facility remains a viable facility for those who need care in this capacity is our director of the department of public health dr. grant coltax. colfax. >> good morning, and thank you mayor breed for your support of laguna hospital and the recognition of the vital role it plays for caring for san franciscans most in need. we saw covid devastate nursing homes at the beginning of the pandemic and feared that might happen at the largest skilled nursing facility in the nation. but laguna honda rose to the occasion and served as the national leader for our covid-19 response. for over 150 years, laguna

honda's been a pillar of our health care system here in san francisco. it serves as a safety net for those with complex medical and behavioral health needs who are at low or very low income. it is indeed a great pride of our city. while we are in a challenging situation now, the most important thing is that laguna honda is not going anywhere. we will continue to be an excellent place to receive excellent care. we will continue to be an excellent place to work. and we will continue to be a vital part of the city's health care system. the center for medicare and medicaid services known as cms gave laguna honda notice on march 30th that if we did not come into full regulatory compliance by april 14th, we

would face termination in the medicare, medicaid program. this is very important because the overwhelming majority of laguna honda patient care is funded through this program. despite great efforts by the laguna honda community, both staff and residents to improve safety measures related to the initial challenge of prohibited items on campus during the survey revisit this week unrelated and technical infractions were found. these infractions were primarily related to hygiene, documentation, and infection prevention and control. as a result, cms has moved to terminate laguna honda from the medicare, medicaid program. now laguna honda is a large and complex organization. i know that given more time, the team could have shown compliance. none of the infractions found

this week would have led determination had it not been for the organization running out of time to show compliance. importantly, laguna honda did not lose its license and remains a licensed skilled nursing facility. but we take these findings seriously and know that responding to them and working with our regulatory partners, laguna honda will be a stronger organization. we look forward to showing this to our regulatory partners in the near future as we begin the process of re-applying to the cms program. i want to end by acknowledging the hard work of laguna honda staff and show my gratitude to laguna honda patients and their families for entrusting us with their care. and now it's my pleasure to introduce the laguna honda chief executive officer michael

phillips. thank you. >> good morning everyone. thank you, mayor london breed and thank you dr. colfax for your leadership and commitment to laguna honda hospital. it is an honor to serve laguna honda patients and it's an honor to work alongside laguna honda staff. this is a remarkable institution with a great history and a great future. i know determination may cause anxiety, but i want you to know we will do everything it takes to make this right. i'm confident that we will meet the regulatory requirements and the high standards that we set for ourselves. for those of you unfamiliar with the process, to where we got today and explain our plan

of action. laguna honda like all skilled nursing facilities has regular inspections by the state known as surveys and it has an obligation to report unusual occurrences. this is always the goal to improve the facility and the care that we provide to our patients. laguna honda reported two nonfatal overdoses to the state. this led to an extended survey in october of 2021. during the state's first revisit program. one staff member did not follow protocols related to prohibited substances. this meant immediately that we were not in compliance.

on march 16th, the state returned for a second revisit survey. during the second revisit, we discovered that a patient was smoking in a communal bathroom and another patient who was on oxygen had a lighter in their possession. this also meant that we were not in compliance. yesterday, we were informed that we did not pass a final survey attempt due to the findings that mayor breed spoke of earlier. these were unrelated to the issue of quad and illicit

substances. and patient safety. and i want to make three things perfectly clear today. first, we take these findings very seriously and we will address them immediately. secondly, laguna honda is here to stay for our patients, we will continue to serve you and for our staff, you will continue to work at laguna honda and thirdly, laguna honda hospital continues to be a licensed facility and is meeting all requirements of licensure on a california regulations. as we work diligently to meet all requirements, laguna honda will continue to receive medicare, medicaid payments over the next 30 days. and due to the size of our facility, we will work with cms to further extend the 30 day payment period.

and most importantly, we will immediately begin the process of reapplying for participation in the cms program. in fact, staff are already preparing for the recertification process and this will take place in the very near future. we look forward to recertifying with medicare and in the meantime, we will continue demonstrating our unwaivering commitment to patient safety. the work taking place right now will ensure the longevity of laguna honda hospital and make our organization a stronger one and we will continue to serve the needs of san franciscans most in need. thank you very much. we'll try to answer any questions. >> thank you, mr. phillips. my name is myrna melgar.

i am the supervisor for district 7. i have the great honor of representing this district where laguna honda is located. district seven like many other districts in san francisco has a large aging population and laguna honda is our jewel. it serves both who are most at need, the indigent, the elderly, and it does it with great love. it has decades of love from the staff, from our city to take care of folks who need that. we are here as representatives of the commitment of the values that san francisco has of making sure that we come into compliance that these findings will be corrected and i am so grateful for the leadership of mayor london breed and dr. colfax to address these issues immediately to make sure that the staff have the proper training and to recognize that

despite being in a pandemic for the past two years, staff have stepped up to implement new protocols as mayor breed talked about and also new hydroprotocols that are now being implemented so i'm thankful for the city all coming together to support this wonderful institution to ensure that for years to come, families will not be separated and that we will continue to have a top notch facility that is compliant with medicare and with all our state regulations. thank you so much for your interest in being here and i also am grateful and will now bring up dan bernal who is here representing speaker pelosi's office. thank you, mr. bernal. >> thank you, supervisor melgar. chief of staff in san francisco for congresswoman and speaker of the house nancy pelosi. while speaker pelosi could not

be here today, she asked me to protect the health of all san franciscans for your dedication and your care for the staff and the residents of laguna honda hospital and for so eloquently leading and sharing your personal experience and your family's experience with laguna honda. it's so critical at this time. so thank you, mayor breed speaker pelosi laguna honda has long been the pillar of health. at this very moment, this indispensable institution is ensuring that hundreds of patients with complex medical and behavioral health conditions can get the care they need regardless of their financial means. and during the pandemic, the dedicated staff of the hospital has been outstanding in controlling outbreaks and keeping its vulnerable patients

safe from the virus. it is unfathomable to support life-saving programs for some of our most vulnerable san franciscos especially as we continue to be threatened by the pandemic. this is why it is both urgent and essential that city, state, and national officials work together to help address areas of concern and protect this crucial health care provider. my office is working closely with mayor breed and the biden administration to support laguna honda's devoted staff and ensure that the hospital can address its issues, come into full compliance and continue to serve our community for decades to come. thank you. >> thank you, dan, for being here today and thank you to everyone for their support. i also want to express that we in addition to the work that we are doing directly at laguna

honda, we have had significant support from our congresswoman jackie spear as well and so we appreciate her as well as our other sfral and state officials who have reached out to work with us to ensure that laguna honda is protected and safe for the people that we are here to serve and at this point, we are open to answering questions related to laguna honda. >> in funding, how long is that gap. >> we don't at this time believe there will be a gap in funding and i'll let mr. phillip answer that because as he explained in his remarks. we still funding for the next 30 days and expect

reimbursement for those patients through this program. but we're in the process of submitting an application. and we expect that with the particular concerns that have been expressed, those things are going to be fixed immediately. and so as a result, we expect that our application will be approved and we should not see any gaps in funding and is there anything you want to add, mr. phillip to that? >> i think that's correct. a process where there is an immediate 30-day extension of payment. they have also indicated, we haven't received signature assurance, but they have indicated there is a possibility for us to have a further extension of our payment. and i think not only for laguna honda but for cms as well,

there's a strong consideration for our patient population and i think they will work with us to do everything within their power to ensure that we have the funding that we need until, you know, we proceed with our recertification. >> [ indiscernible ] >> yes. and i don't want to minimize the findings that c.m.s. found over the last few weeks and last couple of days specifically. but all these things that were

found we are. >> [ indiscernible ] >> thank you for that question. as you know, laguna honda is a very large facility and with over 700 patients and so we receive a lot of visitors for those patients. we recently implemented a process whereby a visitor is screened at the entrance. we have the san francisco sheriff's department personnel providing those screenings and visitor belongings are either visitors can take the belongings back to their vehicles or they can place them in lockers that we provide for

them that are secured and cleaned between use. and it's a very orderly process. we've had it in place now for about a week. the first couple of days were, of course, you know, we had to work through some issues, but by the second day, things were just fine and i think patients and families really understand the necessity for doing this. so everyone is working with us, you know, to implement these new procedures. >> will it be for staff as well in terms of what they're allowed to come in with? >> there won't be changes for staff, we do have processes for staff where we have to ensure, you know, covid related processes and protocols, but otherwise, this won't apply to

our staff. >> all right. thank you very much. learned a it across the city. [♪♪] the tenderloin is home to families, immigrants, seniors, merchants, workers, and the housed and unhoused who all deserve a thriving neighborhood to call home. the tenderloin emergency initiative was launched to improve safety, reduce crime, connect people to services, and increase investments in the neighborhood. >> the department of homelessness and supportive housing is responsible for providing resources to people living on the streets. we can do assessments on the streets to see what people are eligible for as far as permanent housing. we also link people with

shelter that's available. it could be congregate shelter, the navigation center, the homeless outreach team links those people with those resources and the tenderloin needs that more than anywhere else in the city. >> they're staffing a variety of our street teams, our street crisis response team, our street overdose response team, and our newly launched wellness response team. we have received feedback from community members, from residents, community organizations that we need an extra level and an extra level of impact and more impactful care to serve this community's needs and that's what the fire department and the community's paramedics are bringing today to this issue. >> the staff at san francisco community health center has really taken up the initiative of providing a community-based outreach for the neighborhood. so we're out there at this point monday through saturday letting residents know this is a service they can access really just describing the service, you know, the shower,

the laundry, the food, all the different resources and referrals that can be made and really just providing the neighborhood with a face, this is something that we've seen work and something you can trust. >> together, city and community-based teams work daily to connect people to services, [gavel]es, >> good afternoon. this meet willing come to order. welcome to the april 25 regular meeting of the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisor. i am supervisor melgar, chair of the ci