Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 62F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..
Light rain early. Partial clearing overnight. Low 48F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Updated: April 1, 2026 @ 10:59 am
Editor,
Thanks to Holly Rusch for her excellent reporting on the Peninsula Health Care District and its decision to abort its plans to build senior housing at the old hospital site in Burlingame. This recent turn of events was a source of shock and dismay to many of us in the community. The new hospital was occupied in 2011, which means that the site where the old hospital stood has been sitting idle for 14 years, now without even a plan.
MidPen Housing expected to break ground on the affordable component of the development by the end of 2025. I do not understand why, even if the district had reservations about the market-rate component, it could not have restructured its agreements to allow MidPen to go forward. The district maintains that because the various elements of the project were negotiated as one, it was impossible to do so. But I am not convinced. Where there is a will, a way can very often be found.
It goes without saying that we needed these MidPen homes. As a result of our high housing costs, there are many seniors in the community whose lives have been completely impoverished, leaving them without the resources to meet even the most basic needs. These 152 MidPen homes would have restored sustainability and hope to many senior lives.
I believe the Peninsula Health Care District has a lot of explaining to do. A precious piece of public land continues to sit idle, generating no public benefit, and now without even a plan.
Karyl Eldridge
Burlingame
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(1) comment
Super letter Karyl. It really underlines the limits of the efforts of those in positions that are tasked with the managing of "public benefit" entities. No aspersions meant but those folks who in the opinion of most observers appear to have a smaller horizon when looking at their task, then most of the rest of us "not in the room" so to speak. I think obtaining the biggest financial gain for the Healthcare District versus the biggest public benefit as seen by the critics of what has been going on. Plus the unwillingness to recognize thier own limited cababilities in parsing out the various options for the use of the vacant land in question. Hopefully our Supervisors at the County level and other officials with some influence, will come to make a more useful outcome.
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