Think on the Peninsula Hospital proposal

The district has been presented a proposal from Sutter Health Care Services and Mills-Peninsula Health Services to build a new seismically safe, general acute care hospital to replace the Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame. The full 26 acres of public land will be leased for $1 per year. In turn Sutter and Mills-Peninsula will build a $400 million dollar hospital, parking structure and office building.

On the surface this sounds like a great deal for the district. One area of concern is financing. Previously Mills-Peninsula had agreed to pay off the $67 million bond indebtedness, forgive the $18 million district reimbursement of current capital improvements, and none of the district's land would be encumbered to finance construction. The district would then cancel the current lawsuit against Mills-Peninsula.

Mills-Peninsula also proposes that the district reimburse them for the last 25 years of the 50-year lease for unamortized capital improvements. If Mills-Peninsula has full control of the land, and receives all of the revenue and rents, it would be impossible for the district to make such a payment. That is not in the best interest of the taxpayers.

A better arrangement should be made before any final agreement is signed. Safeguards should be an integral part of the contract in order to protect the assets of the district. The district should also have a voice in the running of the hospital. They need to protect the citizen's interests and maintain strong core services to the community.

Dan Andersen

Burlingame

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