Hundreds of people, including San Francisco's mayor, current and former supervisors, health care workers and older adults from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community stood side by side at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown on Wednesday to advocate for a $390 million public health bond on the November ballot. If passed by San Francisco voters on Nov. 5, Proposition B would pour money into restoring infrastructure of public health care facilities, renovating public spaces, improving street safety conditions and acquiring new sites for homeless shelters.
The bulk of the funding, approximately $205.1 million, would go toward expanding and repairing the Chinatown Public Health Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco City Clinic. "We have an opportunity to invest in the infrastructure of our hospitals and ensure they continue serving their patients for generations to come," said Theresa Rutherford, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and a health care worker at Laguna Honda.
"These are not just 'feel good' measures, but critical investment for the resilience preparedness of our entire city and everyone who lives, works and visits here," Rutherford said. Critical health care facilities in the city are in need of structural improvements in order to properly function, like the Chinatown Public Health Center. The building has not been renovated since the 1970s and needs seismic.
