Supervisors to Go on Record Against Sutter’s Closing of St. Luke’s. Investigate Legal Responses to Medical Redlining

Mirkarimi Legislation Demonstrates City Commitment to St. Luke’s, as Broad Community Coalition Rallies to Save San Francisco Landmark Healthcare Rally Precedes Hearing

Thursday, January 24, 2008 : Scores of nurses, doctors, and patients from St. Luke’s Hospital will be joined by community and civil rights activists Thursday January 24 as a Board of Supervisors committee considers a resolution mapping out the City’s responses, including possible legal action, to Sutter Health’s attempts to engage “medical redlining” by abandoning the heavily Latino and African-American patient population at the facility. The patient advocates will gather for a 12 noon rally on the steps of City Hall, preceding the 1 p.m.committee hearing, Thursday January 24.

The committee will also investigate the depth and severity of the cuts that Sutter Health has made thus far in the “medical-surgical” or general hospital units. The recent closure of a medical/surgical floor follows a string of service cuts, most recently the October announcement of the elimination of neonatal intensive care at St. Luke’s.

The Committee on City Operations and Neighborhood Services will take up a resolution by Sup. Ross Mirkarimi to place the Board of Supervisors on record against Sutter Health’s efforts to close St. Luke’s and to direct the city attorney to outline responses to the clear violations of civil rights and other laws that Sutter Health is engaging in. The same resolution also orders all city departments to send the board information about any pending permits related to the closure of St. Luke’s. At the same hearing, Sup. Michaela Alioto-Pier will continue her investigation into the cuts that Sutter has already made at the facility, specifically on the med-surg floors, leaving those units overcrowded during the flu season.

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