No. 5-03
WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco is committed to maintaining San Francisco General Hospital as the designated Level I Trauma Center to assure quality care for San Francisco and Northern San Mateo County, and,
WHEREAS, the Trauma Plan for the City and County of San Francisco was approved in August 2001 and has identified the need to ensure consistent availability of rapid access to trauma care for injured persons in the San Francisco trauma care system service area and for San Francisco residents injured in neighboring regions; and,
WHEREAS, in August 2001 the Health Commission of the City and County of San Francisco directed a thorough, objective evaluation of consistently available air medical access at the San Francisco General Hospital; and,
WHEREAS, through its Level I services, San Francisco General Hospital provides advanced trauma care and professional trauma education and training that is not available in communities in the North and East Bay and Northern California Coastal regions; and,
WHEREAS, the Health Commission of the City and County of San Francisco resolved in 1998 to support the regionalization of the Level I Trauma Program at San Francisco General Hospital to counties in need of advanced trauma care, as long as there is no negative impact on the delivery of emergency and trauma services to the people in the City and County of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, since 1998, the regionalization of San Francisco General Hospital trauma services into the northern portion of San Mateo County has succeeded without negative impact on the delivery of emergency and trauma services to the people in the City and County of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, the use of regional trauma resources can be maximized if rapid emergency medical transportation is available to the Level I trauma services of San Francisco General Hospital from local and remote Northern California Coastal regions, and from San Francisco, to the advanced pediatric and adult trauma services of other designated trauma centers in the Bay Area; and,
WHEREAS, the City of San Francisco does not have the pediatric patient volume to support a Pediatric Trauma Center, critically injured infants and young children may require rapid air access to the advanced services of a Pediatric Trauma Center located in the East or South Bay regions; and,
WHEREAS, it has been demonstrated that it is feasible to locate a helipad for air medical access at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Health Commission of the City and County of San Francisco supports the development of a medical helipad at San Francisco General Hospital, and, therefore:
Accepts the 2003 San Francisco General Hospital Air Medical Feasibility Study; and,
Directs San Francisco General Hospital to complete the next phase of planning for air medical access to San Francisco General Hospital to include the conduct of an environmental impact review, medical helipad design and permitting.
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the San Francisco Health Commission at its meeting of March 4, 2003.
Michele Olson, Executive Secretary to the Health Commission