Mayor Gavin Newsom led a groundbreaking ceremony at the San Francisco General Hospital today to launch the building of a new, earthquake-proofed hospital.
The hospital, to be built alongside the current one, is expected to cost $887.4 million and be completed in 2015 - pictured above in a computer-generated image
Other officials there today on the main lawn of the campus on Potrero Avenue included city Supervisors, Dr Mitch Katz, Director of the Department of Public Health, Sue Currin, CEO of SFGH, Sue Carlisle, Associate Dean, and representatives of the Department of Public Works, contractors, and the non-profit SFGH Foundation.
The General Hospital is the city's only trauma center and without a new building to meet seismic codes would have to close in 2013. In an earthquake, the base of the new build will be able to move 30 inches in any direction.
The hospital will have nine stories, seven above ground and two below, 284 beds, 32 more than it currently has, and will cover 448,000 sq ft.
It is also hoping to be a 'green' hospital and achieve the Gold level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
Current inpatient, outpatient and emergency services will not be affected by the build, say the Department of Public Health.
Within San Francisco, the hospital takes almost 30 per cent of ambulances, provides 20 per cent of inpatient care, serves 100,000 patients every year, has the only Psychiatric Emergency Room and the largest psychiatric inpatient care facility.
San Franciscans voted for the rebuild with a record 84 per cent approval for Proposition A in last November's elections. Financing is through general obligation bonds. The San Francisco Foundation will raise charitable funding for hospital furniture, supplies and equipment, and art work will be selected by the San Francisco Arts Commission.
For more info and to keep up-to-date on the rebuild:
http://www.sfdph.org/dph/RebuildSFGH/
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