Health Care Today

Providing For the Future of Health Care In Our Community

RN Forgivable Loan Program Review

Board Votes Yes

The Quality of Health Care

Community Resources

Health Care Today

Health Care Today is a forum for District Board members to openly discuss health care topics currently facing the District.

Periodically, we will update the page with new information and points of view. Please note that the opinions of the individual Board members are those of the author, and may or may not represent the views of other Board members.

If you would like to comment or give suggestions on current topics, please email us.

The Peninsula Health Care District, which includes Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo, San Bruno, Millbrae and parts of South San Francisco and Foster City, was formed by the voters in 1947 to build a community hospital to serve its residents and to assure adequate health care services for the community. Our community has changed over the years and so has health care.  However, our mission is every bit as important today as it was then.  We are proud that last summer, our District achieved something that, to date, few others have.  That is to secure the long-term future of our community hospital in the wake of significant changes to state law regarding seismic stability for acute care hospitals. 

We have achieved this together, first through the negotiation of a 50-year lease agreement with our current hospital operator (Mills-Peninsula Health Services) – and subsequently through your affirmation of that agreement through Measure V on August 29, 2006, which passed with over 92 percent of voter approval.  The end result will be not only a new, privately-funded, seismically safe hospital—but also a District Board that will pay greater attention to some of our communities other significant health care challenges.

These challenges will require a focused effort to address issues that, if left unattended, could grow into health care crises. These issues include an increasing demand for services as Baby Boomers move into retirement; a shortage of physicians and nurses amid increasing demand for medical services; a rising number of uninsured and under-insured patients; and health care issues that impact the whole community, such as the obesity epidemic, disparities in access to pre-natal care, and a lack of access to preventative dental care in our district.

The District Board believes that with a hands-on approach to these issues, we can use our resources to improve health care programs and services. That is why the District Board has been conducting a strategic planning process, analyzing the most pressing needs of the community and developing solutions that can make a real difference in the lives of District residents.

We have been refining the District’s mission to reflect our increased focus on an overall health care strategy. As such, the mission we have set forth is for the District to provide leadership in creating a culture of health awareness in which healthy living choices, disease prevention, heath education, and access to necessary health care services are optimal for District residents.

The District Board has been holding strategy sessions to actively seek input from community leaders on our community’s health care needs.  In the coming weeks, we will be presenting the results of this process throughout the community to get further communal input on how we can best, collectively, create and fund programs that will play an important role in addressing the needs of our community.

We appreciate the support that we have received in the community in our efforts to build a new, seismically safe hospital with no new taxes. Now, with the landmark agreement we have in place with Mills-Peninsula Health Services to build a new state-of-the-art hospital on District land to replace the Peninsula Medical Center, the District Board is in a solid position, with your help, to shape the future of health care in our community.

Our next meeting to discuss the long-term strategy will take place April 30 at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers of San Mateo City Hall. We invite you to come learn about our findings and help us plan for our future.

Donald Newman, M.D. is the Chairman of the Peninsula Health Care District Board.