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This letter has been sent to
many friends and contacts by Karen Makely who authored it. Please personalize
and make it you own. If it is helpful, use this as a kind of template if you
wish, but do make it your own to express your own concerns. Note: the one I sent
to you had her name at the bottom. Please put your own there and send it on to
your contacts. Thanks to Karen, and to all of you for getting the word out)
Date, 2007
Dear friends,
I am writing to update you on a crisis facing St. Luke's Hospital in
San Francisco. St. Luke's services predominantly
the southeast segment of San Francisco and has
provided a "back up" role to an overburdened San Francisco General Hospital. Our
Obstetrics department delivers 1300 babies annually and our Emergency
department treats 28,000 patients annually, 5000 of which are children. The
closure of St. Luke's will reach far beyond the Mission neighborhood where it is
located. San Francisco currently lacks enough
inpatient beds to respond to a city wide emergency. Should we suffer a major
earthquake, pandemic or terrorist attack we do not have adequate medical
resources to respond. The closure of St. Luke's as an inpatient facility will
double this deficit.
Women throughout the Bay Area have been choosing to deliver their babies at St.
Luke's for the collaborative care of midwives and obstetricians providing
safe, low intervention births supported by pediatricians and a neonatal
intensive care unit. Our uninsured population has been receiving this same high
quality care. This department serves as a model of integrated care for all,
regardless of socioeconomic or ethnic differences. A national debate over
healthcare access and a widening gap between the rich and the poor of our
country is underway. San Francisco should lead
the nation in finding solutions. Instead of closing St. Luke's in 2009 as has
been proposed, the hospital should be revitalized and held up as an example of
what a truly progressive city can achieve.
If you are interested in learning more about the efforts to "Save St. Luke's"
please visit the newly constructed website at
http://savestlukes.org. The site gives dates and information
about upcoming health commission and city supervisor hearings, online petitions
and the history of St. Luke's. Please feel free to forward this email to any
contacts you have or to contact me for more information.
Thank You,
Your Name
Your Department
St. Luke's Hospital
San Francisco, CA
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