By
Shipra Shukla
San Francisco Supervisor Sophie Maxwell recently toured UCSF Children's Hospital, where she heard firsthand about its life-saving treatments and compassionate care.
"I am certainly very impressed at all the opportunities for children who have serious health issues," Maxwell said. "It's obvious that at one point these children would probably not be alive and now they are. I just think it's so amazing what UCSF does and the commitment and the hope they give parents and children, not to mention the sensitivity with which they deliver care. I think it's really great."
Maxwell's visit on Nov. 14 is symbolic of the deepening relationship between UCSF and the constituents in Maxwell's district, which includes the Potrero Hill and Dogpatch neighborhoods adjacent to the site of the new medical center at Mission Bay will be located.
After meeting with Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center, and Ed Stewart, associate director of UCSF Government Relations, Maxwell was led on her first tour of the UCSF Children's Hospital by Executive Director Roxanne Fernandes.
Maxwell stayed well past the scheduled conclusion of her visit to review the latest designs for the Mission Bay medical center and share her thoughts about the facility that will house integrated hospitals for children, women and cancer patients.
Maxwell serves as chair of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Land Use and Economic Development Committee, which has jurisdiction over any local approval that might be needed for the new hospital, such as the proposed helipad.
One goal for the visit to UCSF was to convey to Maxwell the need for a new children's hospital. In leading Maxwell through the neo-natal intensive care unit, Fernandes explained the demand for larger facilities. She pointed around her and said, "Every three-day holiday I run out of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) beds. In fact, last Memorial Day, we were asking physicians whether they wanted their patients to go to Utah or Washington."
Fernandes clarified that while the total number of children's hospital beds in the Bay Area is not running out, the types of beds designed to treat patients admitted to hospitals that care for the most complex cases like UCSF's, Lucile Packard's and Oakland's children hospitals do not meet demand. Hence, she said, UCSF has an urgent need to build a new children's hospital.
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Roxanne Fernandes, executive director of UCSF Children's Hospital, leads San Francisco Supervisor Sophie Maxwell on a tour of the hospital on the Parnassus campus.
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Strengthening Partnerships
In making her way from the 15th floor to the 7th floor, Maxwell was greeted by Julie Pollman, lead teacher in the hospital's one-room school, which is part of the Child Life Department.
Maxwell was impressed with the fact that the UCSF Children's Hospital operates a fully accredited San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) school designed to meet the educational needs of sick children. The school represents a partnership between UCSF and SFUSD.
Strengthening partnerships between the campus and the community is one of seven major priorities identified in the UCSF Strategic Plan. Maxwell commended UCSF for hosting numerous neighborhood meetings to discuss plans for building the integrated hospital and helipad at Mission Bay.
"What I'm hearing is great comments about the process," said Maxwell. "People feel that they're being involved, that they're being listened to and that they're being given information on how a hospital works. Everyone who represents UCSF is doing a good job on their process and their communication with the community."
As a result of feedback from the community, which has been involved in the planning and design of the new medical center at Mission Bay, UCSF changed the location of its proposed helipad from the middle of the site to the northernmost location. UCSF has the only major children's hospital without a helipad to transport patients facing the most critical and life-threatening situations in California.
"We appreciate the community's openness to wanting to learn more about how a children's hospital functions," said Diana Farmer, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery. "While the need for helicopter transport is rare, it is the difference between life and death for an acutely-injured child or infant with a life-threatening birth defect."
Photo by Shipra Shukla
Related Links:
UCSF and Community Work Together to Address Concerns About Proposed Helipad at Mission BayUCSF Today, Oct. 19, 2007
