If nothing else, the current dilemma involving the future of Seton Medical Center in Daly City and its satellite facility in Moss Beach highlights two ongoing issues that continue to bedevil planners and policymakers who operate in these parts: The delicate and difficult nature of health care finance and the frustrating tendency of left-leaning California politicians to overregulate, overcontrol and meddle.
Both of those factors have come into focus in the Seton case. Seton’s operations (owned by the Catholic Daughters of Charity) are on life support.
To stay barely viable as they sink closer to bankruptcy, they require a subsidy from San Mateo County taxpayers of $1.2 million per month.
Recently, a move to sell the two Seton entities, along with four other medical facilities owned by the Daughters of Charity in California, was shot down because of an unprecedented set of onerous conditions laid out by state Attorney General Kamala Harris.
More than 300 strict requirements impinging on the proposed sale were spelled out. One of them mandated that the buyer, Prime Healthcare, must operate the hospitals for at least 10 years — regardless of financial realities during that period.
Prime Healthcare wanted a five-year limit, and it made a variety of monetary promises that appeared to be generous considering the grim circumstances faced by the current owners.
At first glance, Prime Healthcare seemed to be on board with Harris’ dictates. But, then, its accountants apparently got their pencils out and, lo and behold, the numbers simply would not add up. So Prime Healthcare bailed out.
Now, many people in the North County and on the Coastside (not to mention the southern portion of San Francisco) are faced with uncertainty. That’s especially important for the indigent who lack the resources or ability to access, say, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in South San Francisco or Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame.
Discussions to find a solution to the Seton situation are underway. It would not be a stretch to speculate that, at crunchtime, answers will be found. Reportedly, there is at least one other buyer that’s interested. We’ll see.
County officials have expressed a desire to take a look at buying the Moss Beach hospital. However, they are not eager to purchase the much larger Daly City operation.
And there is a footnote to the state’s significant involvement in the abortive (so far) attempt to sell off the Daughters’ properties.
The role of the Service Employees International Union has to come into question in all of this.
The SEIU was a vocal foe of the planned sale to Prime Healthcare. The union just happens to be a big-time donor to liberal Democratic causes and politicians. The California Nurses Association was on the other side of the dispute before Harris’ draconian directives. But the CNA doesn’t have nearly the clout that the SEIU wields.
The obvious politics of all of this makes you wonder about Harris’ ultra-restrictive set of caveats.
A coastal scramble
For more than 30 years, the Main Street Grill in downtown Half Moon Bay has been serving up generous portions of old-fashioned, down-home comfort food in a quaint setting worthy of small-town America.
Lately, though, the coastal dining spot has been issuing what amounts to an apology of sorts. A small sign greets customers; it reads: “Egg prices have tripled in the last three months.”
In other words, a price hike has become necessary. And, so, egg dishes on the menu have undergone a slight uptick in cost.
Still, there’s nothing quite like the Grill’s hot, $12 three-egg scramble and strong coffee on a brisk morning on the Coastside.
A carousel lives
Jeff Tateosian is something of a local historian regarding Northern California amusement parks. He once worked at the old Marine World-Africa U.S.A., where Oracle Corp. currently has its headquarters.
He has pointed out a key fact that was missing in last week’s column item describing the long-gone Pacific City park at Coyote Point on the Burlingame-San Mateo border.
The Pacific City carousel was moved to the San Francisco Zoo and it’s still in operation there more than 90 years later. So you can get a small taste of the Peninsula’s past even now.
John Horgan’s column appears Thursday. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.or by regular mail at P.O. Box 117083, Burlingame, CA 94011.
