Save St. Luke's Hospital

My name is Dr. Bonita Palmer.

I’m a member of the Staff of St. Luke for 17 years,

trained at San Francisco General,

      where I now teach UCSF medical students.

I’m also a member of the Episcopal Church

       that founded St. Luke’s

                       as the second hospital in San Francisco.

The original hospital mission statement

was revolutionary….

“St. Luke’s will be a charitable hospital for the reception of all colors, nationalities, and creeds. Its benefits, refused to none, will be limited only by its means."

St. Luke’s has survived good times and bad

until recently…  thanks to the sustained support

     of some of the first and founding families of our City.

Until the advent of MediCal/Medicare, SL,

                practiced a kind of Robin Hood medicine, reserving 10% of the daily room rate

                                      for charity care…

                            taking from the rich to care for the poor.

Today, St. Luke’s faces immanent collapse!!!

Bishop Swing wrote to the Mayor

          prior to the affiliation reminding him that …

“The mission statement created the hospital.

            The hospital embodied the mission statement.”

Sadly, this is no longer true.

        Sutter Health, has not bought into our mission,

                  and no longer has plans

                              for us to exist as a hospital at all!   

In 2001 we chose to affiliate

               as a settlement of an anti-trust suit

brought against CPMC/Sutter

                                  due to unfair competition.

Many believed at that time in their promises

           to preserve our mission, to invest and revitalize,

                               and, yes, even to build a new hospital!  

That trust has been badly betrayed…

                   placing corporate profits

                                      ahead of the welfare of patients.

This past weekend our medical leadership met

                       to discern our collective will in this crisis..

We unanimously call upon the administration

·         To immediately halt the dismantling

                                              of our inpatient services

·         To provide transparency and communication

                              to rebuild and enhance trust among us

·         And to work within our founding charitable

             mission to invest in and revitalize our hospital

Dr. Brotman said 16 months ago, that…

          “St. Luke’s is a critical part of

                  San Francisco’s health care system

                      that our community cannot afford to lose.”

We believe that saving St. Luke’s is simply

                                                    the right thing to do!!  

…..for the sake of the very heart and soul,

                         and health! of this great progressive City. 

Thank you.