we want a laguna honda. other communities across this country and even in the world do not have a public hospital devoted to rehabilitation and skilled nursing care. we do. and when we talk about putting that bond issue, that great big bond issue -- there were people who said i do not think we can do it. but i always knew we could. and the secret weapon was always the families of those for whom at laguna honda has cared for for so long over the years with the great quality of care that we have. and the voters did vote overwhelmingly to rebuild laguna honda. so for those naysayers in other parts of the country who say, "maybe san francisco once knew how to do it," i say we still do. we have still got the passion, the dedication, the vision, and the team work to get the job done. and we have done it today. [applause] and it is my great pleasure now to actually call a man from speaker policies office. -- speaker pelosi's office. i got calls from her and from congresswoman feinstein. they have asked me to say th

we would need over 10 laguna honda's. we are not going to let arnold schwarzenegger have his way so that people can have the option of dignity. thank you all for joining us today. [applause] >> san francisco has a great elected city family. i want to acknowledge the president of the board of supervisors, president david chu, supervisor maxwell, subp-- superviser chiu, jose cisneros, the former mayor -- we are all proud to have you here. thank you. we have a special supervisor because he represents this district and has been looking out for laguna honda since he was elected. we are very grateful to him for that and for all he did to make today house -- to the possible. police help -- please help me recognize supervisor elsbernd. >> good afternoon, and welcome to beautiful and sunny san francisco. i would also like to single out and think my friend and colleague and recent father, supervisors mirkarimi, who is over there with his son, for all he has done. there are a few more things that i would like to offer. we are going

thank you for spending your saturday afternoon at laguna honda. at the new laguna honda. san francisco has much to be proud of. laguna honda has been providing compassionate care for san francisco hit safety net for over 150 years. we will continue this tradition for the next 150 years to come. second, the new laguna honda, as the most modern rehab and skilled nursing facility in the first certified leed hospital in california, we will deliver on being a model for other facilities around the country and the world in long-term care and rehabilitation care. and most importantly, laguna honda is a community for healing and wellness. you will see this for yourselves as you speak to our staff. thank you, mayor knew some, -- may newsom, mayor brown, jackie speare, the former president of the health commission when prop. 8 past, the health commission, turner construction, derek miller, the arts commission, the staff of laguna honda, our labor partners, and the entire san francisco community for your support in ensuring laguna honda has a bright future. [applause] i will end with

and it will come out of laguna honda. all of us should be proud. all of us should be grateful that we have had a small piece of that particular history. because that history helps me bear a lot of responsibility, to be a husband, to be a father. this institution will always be part of my life. you have taught me how to be that better person. thank you very much and god bless all of you. [applause] >> we are so blessed in our elected leaders in san francisco. senator mark leno has helped us on a bill to make sure that people who need help in a community and want to stay in the community can do so. we are very proud of this new building. at the same time, we want to make sure that people who want to stay in their homes will be able to do so. and so the senator has carried a bill that will enable us, if someone has medicaid, to use those medicaid dollars to increase the number of in-home hours that person has so that we can use those federal dollars instead of hospitalization, instead of long-term care here, in the home. our goal is that the person al

and it will come out of laguna honda. all of us should be proud. all of us should be grateful that we have had a small piece of that particular history. because that history helps me bear a lot of responsibility, to be a husband, to be a father. this institution will always be part of my life. you have taught me how to be that better person. thank you very much and god bless all of you. [applause] >> we are so blessed in our elected leaders in san francisco. senator mark leno has helped us on a bill to make sure that people who needhe

laguna honda was first challenged because it was seismically unsafe. it was the unchallenged because it had 30 person wards, and that was unacceptable. and so the work again. we said "yes we can," and now we say yes we did. we transform laguna honda into a remarkable long-term care facility for the residents of this great city. i was really privileged to be able to carry legislation. it was not easy, but we did come up with 200 million more dollars to put into this facility. your heart will skip a beat just like mine did when i walked into that building and saw the extraordinary are work that will live on in this building forever and that will be a reflection of our great lo

the full spectrum have come to laguna honda. and in our day we were great participants in all of the city life. difficult circumstances, sometimes crushingly difficult, have brought many of us here at last to laguna honda. not at last for some of us. despite all differences, we need the healing that laguna honda is famous for. some people who come will be rehabilitated and will leave sunday. others will need 24-hour care for the rest of their lives, and so they will look forward to spending time in the spending -- in this building for years to come. it is exciting to have a new building. it is even more exciting to receive a new model of care, care that is resident centered, care that honors each person as an individual instead of a body in a bed. care that involves talking to us, and more important, listening to us, hearing our voices. so many have worked so hard, has you have been told -- as you have been told, to bring the state to pass. and now we have a dazzling new setting to present to you. when you leave today, you will

laguna honda was first challenged because it was seismically unsafe. it was the unchallenged because it had 30 person wards, and that was unacceptable. and so the work again. we said "yes we can," and now we say yes we did. we transform laguna honda into a remarkable long-term care facility for the residents of this great city.

they are all partnered with laguna honda. to the volunteers. to the foundation. thank you for your commitment. thank you for your support. finally, and this was a long winded point i wanted to make, it to the residence. the dignity that you deserve. the facilities that you have long before -- you have longed for. to those we have lost along the way, supervisors elsbernd and i had great friends that wanted to be here today that were hoping they could make it through. this is for them. but this is for all of you, for your families. it is difficult for families to make the decision to send their loved ones to a facility like this. it is challenging. sometimes, you are left with a tremendous amount of guilt and anxiety, where you just cannot do it all yourself. i am actually convinced, and i mean this, what this facility will do is bring families back together. there is every reason for

they are all partnered with laguna honda. to the volunteers. to the foundation. thank you for your commitment. thank you for your support. finally, and this was a long winded point i wanted to make, it to the residence. the dignity that you deserve. the facilities that you have long before

as proud as we are of laguna honda, not everybody needs to be ad -- at laguna honda. we need to provide alternatives to skilled nursing services, but we had no funding and no framework. now, five years in a row, $3 million a year, we have been putting into this community living fund to allow people to transition back into the community or to stay in the community to live in dignity and live in place. i want to thank all of you for that community living fund. it is a national model today. [applause] people forget emergency planning. susan never did. i remember we updated all our emergency operations plans. we have not met in eight years, and the emergency operations plan have not been updated in eight years, but there she was saying is great to update it, but make sure it is accessible. at the time, only three of them were accessible. that is a challenge. today, we have more than 75 accessible emergency disaster shelters, and 37 of them can be adapted and made acceptable. that is real progress. we had only one audible alert system. today, we now have an audible and vis

this wonderful new laguna honda would not exist without you. i just want to add a personal note. my younger sister, emily, was a resident here for many more years than i have been. she was greatly loved. we lost her recently. i would like to dedicate this speech to her and remembered her, as many of the residents do, with great fondness and affection. thank you all. [applause] >> i would like to invite you all nowi that good enough? this is a participatory ribbon cutting. it requires nothing more complicated than this. i will ask you to count down, not up. upon conclusion, we will applaud the great works of turner construction, the dedicated men and women who are still toiling inside to get this project completed, which begs the question when will the residents be moving in that? there is an easy answer -- soon. [laughter] [crowd chants a countdown] [applause] go ahead in an orderly manner. >> weren't they great? i think they deserve another round of your thanks. they are thurgood marshall high school like school crew. -- light show crew. they were formed to demonstrate asian cul