Blue Ribbon Panel Convenes Final Meeting Process Continues as Recommendation for Health Care Services in South of Market Area Nearing Completion
(July 7, 2008) The Blue Ribbon Panel, formed to help shape the future of California Pacific Medical Center’s (CPMC) health delivery approach for South of Market, including the future of St. Luke’s, held its final meeting on Tuesday, July 1, 2008. The next phase in the process is to develop a formal recommendation based on the panel’s expressed preference to address the healthcare needs and acute care for the South of Market community. The final report outlining the panel’s formal recommendation will be presented to the CPMC Board later this summer.
The Blue Ribbon Panel has been established as an independent body to create a viable plan for acute care hospital and outpatient services at St. Luke’s, which complements and is supported by CPMC’s current institutional plan for all its San Francisco campuses and meets the healthcare needs of the communities served.
The consensus positions for recommendation to the CPMC Board of Directors include:
- Full integration of the St. Luke’s Campus into the broad mission, strategies and operations of the CPMC system
- Construction of a new acute care, community hospital on the St. Luke’s Campus
- Sizing of the new hospital in proportion to the planned service mix
- Commitment to providing services that meet the greatest needs of the surrounding community
- Development of primary care, disease prevention and health promotion programs that reduces the need for hospitalization
- Establishment of Centers for Excellence in Community Health and Senior Health on the St. Luke’s Campus
- Excellence in recruitment and workforce retention
Panel vice chair the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California and panel chair, Stephen Shortell, PH.D, MPH and Dean of the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, thanked the panel members for their commitment in helping to solve the health care issues in the South of Market community.
“The requirements of rebuilding St. Luke’s while it continues to operate are extremely complex,” said Shortell. “The challenge comes in integrating major changes while maintaining the highest quality of care for patients.”
“Our primary focus is making a recommendation that considers first the well-being of our population both for today and tomorrow,” said Andrus. “When we look at the diversity and needs of this community, it is imperative that we see beyond the traditional models of healthcare services and facilities.”
The Blue Ribbon Panel to San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) is an independent body created under the guidance of San Francisco Supervisor Alioto-Pier and the San Francisco Director of Health, Mitch Katz, M.D. Chaired by Stephen Shortell, PhD, MPH, Dean and professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and the Rt. Reverend Marc Andrus, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California, the goal of the Blue Ribbon Panel is to articulate a viable plan for acute care hospital and outpatient services at CPMC’s St. Luke’s campus which complements and is supported by CPMC’s current institutional plan for its other campuses and to meet the health needs of the communities it serves. For more information please visit http://www.cpmcbeyondmedicine.com.
