Court sides with health district

The California Court of Appeals has sided with the Peninsula Health Care District over a watchdog group that challenged the use of taxpayer money to promote a ballot measure that allowed for the construction of a new hospital in Burlingame.

The Peninsula Hospital Guardians, a nonprofit group, filed suit in 2006 against the district after area voters approved Measure V with 92 percent support.

Measure V was a ballot measure that sought public approval for a private entity, Sutter Health, to construct and operate a new $488 million hospital in Burlingame in place of the district.

The Guardians had also filed suit against the district over a 50-year master lease agreement with Mills Peninsula Hospital Services they said was too long.

The Superior Court ruled against that claim in 2007.

The courts have ruled against the Guardians five times now, three of them appeals.

The hospital is now open and the court rejected the Guardians’ lawsuit against the district Oct. 21 related to campaign materials for Measure V.

The Guardians challenged the Measure V election results and opposed the 50-year lease agreement the district entered into with Mills. The group also claimed that the district had made illegal campaign expenditures with taxpayer money by distributing newsletters and three postcards prior to the Measure V election.

"The court found the newsletters and postcards were proper and informative,” Dr. Dan Ullyot, the district’s board chair, told the Daily Journal yesterday.

The Guardians are reviewing the court findings and have 40 days to decide to appeal the court’s decision to the California Supreme Court, said Joe Quinn, attorney for the watchdog group.

Ullyot hopes the litigation has come to an end, however.

"According to our lawyers, the chances are slim the California Supreme Court will hear this case,” Ullyot said. "The real issue here always was the Guardians’ opposition to building the new hospital.”

Ullyot called the lawsuits a "minor distraction” over the past five years.

The district’s Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Fama said it was Sutter Health that was hurt most by the lawsuits.

The lawsuits may have delayed the start of construction of the Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame by up to two years, Fama said.

The district has had to pay the cost of attorneys to defend its position but construction delays added millions of cost to Sutter Health, she said.

The district is supported by property taxes from residents in north San Mateo County and was established 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 tax revenue to programs and services that enhance the health of the district’s residents.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by email: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.