BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Officials from the Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) today will address the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review, outlining the role of the District in supporting community health, as well as upholding its voter mandate to ensure all residents have access to a community hospital and emergency department, now and in the future.
District board member and treasurer Lawrence W. Cappel, Ph.D., outlined the District’s 50-year Master Agreement, approved by 92 percent of voters in 2006, that calls on the District to ensure that hospital and core health services are preserved for residents of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo and Foster City. In 2011, Mills-Peninsula Health Services (which contracts with the District) opened a new hospital on District land, at no cost to taxpayers.
“If we need affirmation of the importance and need for our health care district, we need only look at the 12-year, successful effort to replace an aging community hospital with a new, seismically sound, environmentally and technologically advanced facility, with no new taxes on residents,” Cappel said. “Further affirmation of our role and responsibility is demonstrated through our community engagement and grants program, amounting to $13 million over the last five years. Our support of community programs brings health services to many underserved residents, while also supporting health education and community health programs.”
Cappel cited District support for the San Bruno Recovery Center for victims of the 2010 pipeline disaster; funding for the Children’s Health Initiative, which makes health insurance available to 100 percent of low income children in the District; support for nursing education through forgivable loans; and support for teen suicide prevention programs, as but a few examples.
Cappel said the District must be true to its mission and long-term obligations, while being responsive to current community needs. “We take our role as stewards of the District’s assets very seriously, and have committed to a long-term plan that reflects residents’ needs now and into the future. To do otherwise would violate our compact with voters, who created the District, codified our mandate, and ultimately pay the bills.”
About the Peninsula Health Care District:
Created by state legislation and launched by local voter approval in 1947, the Peninsula Health Care District serves the communities of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo and Foster City by responding to local priorities and allocating resources to programs and services that address these needs. For more information, visit www.peninsulahealthcaredistrict.org.
CONTACT:
Peninsula Health Care District
Cheryl Fama
[email protected]
or
Janis MacKenzie, 415-403-0800
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Public Policy/Government Healthcare Reform Elections/Campaigns State/Local
MEDIA:
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