The Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) is finalizing its negotiations with Mills-Peninsula Health Services (MPHS) and Sutter Health to enter into a new long-term land lease in exchange for their building a new, seismically updated hospital and medical center. This new facility, and the healthcare services it will provide, will be of major importance to this community for the next 50 to 60 years.
At the recent meeting of the PHCD Board, it was mentioned that one of the last major hurdles that must be overcome is the drafting of the actual lease documents. These documents must correctly reflect the intent of each side when they negotiated the new agreement and signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) last December. San Mateo County supervisors Jerry Hill and Mark Church - together with State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, the California Health Care Coalition (CHCC), local public officials and the Peninsula Hospital Guardians - have all asked the PHCD Board to address various significant issues and concerns that were inadequately covered or insufficiently defined in the December LOI.
To ensure that members of the public have a good grasp of the true terms of the proposed "new deal" that the public will eventually be asked to approve or reject, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, as an interested and affected third party responsible for 95 percent of charity care in San Mateo County, will perform a great public service by agreeing to the following three requests:
1. Have County Counsel review and analyze the various documents relating to the final contract, as soon as they are finalized, and provide an opinion on the fairness, completeness and enforceability of the contract proposals.
2. Hold one or two community forums on the subject, in which the Board of Supervisors and County Counsel will participate, allowing them to provide input on the proposals as drafted.
3. Hold off on endorsing, conditionally endorsing or rejecting the "new deal" until the Board of Supervisors, in conjunction with County Counsel, has analyzed the documents and the public has had sufficient time to digest the proposals. At one point, the PHCD Board proposed allowing less than 10 days for the public to review and comment on the drafted "new deal" documents at five meetings - several of which would have occurred during the day, when most members of the public would be unable to attend.
The results of the final agreements drafted for this "deal" will significantly impact future health insurance coverage, deductibles and premiums that all County residents and their employers pay. As drafted, the LOI significantly risks the availability of, delivery of and access to quality healthcare for the entire county during the next 50 to 60 years or more. We ask that the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and County Counsel assist us in providing an independent review of, forum on and assessment of this "deal" for the district's voters before they are required to approve or reject it.
The Peninsula Hospital Guardians are Dan Andersen, Terilyn Hanko, former PHCD director, Terry Huebner, Ruth Jacobs, RN, Luciana Kincer, RN, Glenn Mendelson, former PHCD director, Vincent A. Muzzi, former PHCD director, Tobin Schneider, MD, former PHCD director.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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