we have yet to live up to that promise. i look forward to working with all of you call ever to pla. we invite you to stay with us. we look forward to continuing this dialogue in the future. thank you very much. good afternoon, everyone. if you would take your seats for this incredibly happy occasion. i am the director of the san francisco department of public health, and i want you to think back 13 years, because that is when i began. and when i started, the very first crisis i had to deal with is what shall we do about the laguna honda hospital. it has always been known for the incredible care, the loving nurses, the fantastic physicians, the energetic volunteers, the courage of our residents, for all of the things that made the care great. but we had a problem. and the problem was the building. we were in a building that had long outlived its usefulness as a place for residents to live. it was no longer consistent with any medicare or medicaid rules. we were the only faci
thank you, mr. mayor. we really appreciate it. the mayor spoke of the tremendous role of congresswoman jackie spier. i said, will you please join us in supporting the hospital? she said, my grandfather was here. as a child, i took care of him here. just let me know what you need. that is something you hear pretty often. it is just words. but a few months later, i said i need you to do something. i told her that we needed a state bill passed that would enable us to be able to leverage federal dollars so we could build this facility. she said she could do it and then she did, which i think is very much the story of her life a woman with a huge heart who says i will do that for you, and then she really does. congresswoman jackie speaier. are you as thrilled as i am to be here today? is this not just a home run out of the park? i am reminded of what they always say about society, that you really measure a society by how it takes care of its old, its young, and its disa
finding a viable use for dog poop. proenvironmental policies, that s a way to win hearts and minds. good afternoon, everyone. if you would take your seats for this incredibly happy occasion. i am the director of the san francisco department of public health, and i want you to think back 13 years, because that is when i began. and when i started, the very first crisis i had to deal with is what shall we do about the laguna honda hospital. it has always been known for the incredible care, the loving nurses, the fantastic physicians, the energetic volunteers, the courage of our residents, for all of the things that made the care great. but we had a problem. and the problem was the building. we were in a building that had long outlived its usefulness as a place for residents to live. it was no longer consistent with any medicare or medicaid rules. we were the only facility left in the country running open wards. we were told we would not be allowed any longer by both the fede
throughout the program. part of what makes today so sweet is it was not easy to get here. it was really hard. there were a lot of bumps on the road to this fantastic moment, many things we could not have anticipated, many things we did not know. throughout it, the mayor has always supported it, help us to solve the problems we face. i think the biggest part of the to be to him is the fact that this is the first leed building the environmental certification the first leed hospital in california to be built. i think that really speaks to his commitment to environmental issues at a time, 12 years ago, when it was not so popular, and it seemed like a quixotic kind of adventure to be talking about it. he said it was real. he was right. now people talk about it as a day to day economic reality. mr. mayor? thank you, doctor, and thank you all for taking the time to be here today. to begin with, i would like to recognize a couple of people. one person whose spirit is here, but
the mayor spoke of the tremendous role of congresswoman jackie spier. i said, will you please join us in supporting the hospital? she said, my grandfather was here. as a child, i took care of him here. just let me know what you need. that is something you hear pretty often. it is just words. but a few months later, i said i need you to do something. i told her that we needed a state bill passed that would enable us to be able to leverage federal dollars so we could build this facility. she said she could do it and then she did, which i think is very much the story of her life a woman with a huge heart who says i will do that for you, and then she really does. congresswoman jackie speaier. are you as thrilled as i am to be here today? is this not just a home run out of the park? i am reminded of what they always say about society, that you really measure a society by how it takes care of its old, its young, and its disabled. if ever there was a symbol of how this gr