Organized Labor

The hospital and trauma center will have 284 beds and14 operating rooms and will provide the only Level 1 Trauma Center for residents of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. The facility will house cardiology/radiology/auxiliary support and plant services at the B2 level. Preoperative/gastroenterology and a clinical laboratory will be contained at the B1 level. Admitting and emergency will occupy the ground floor level. Obstetrics/pediatrics and NICU will be housed on the second floor.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU/CCU) will be located on the third and fourth floors. Medical surgery and forensic will occupy the fifth and sixth floors and acute care for the elderly will occupy the seventh floor. The tunnel at the B1 level will connect to the nuclear medicine center in the existing hospital and the bridge at the second floor will connect to clinical laboratories, the cafeteria and support services.

According to Webcor, the project will be built in four phases: Phase I consists of site utilities relocation and replacement; Phase II consists of Service Building modifications and equipment additions; Phase III consists of excavations, foundations and structure frame; and Phase IV consists of the new Acute Building Enclosure and build out. The 448,000 square foot hospital will be a steel moment frame structure on a mat foundation with base isolators. Ties to the existing hospital will be made by means of a tunnel at the B1 level and a bridge at the 2nd floor.

There is currently a small crew of operating engineers, laborers and carpenters working on the excavations. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in October; site utility relocations took place from April to October 2009. Webcor will do shoring, earthwork, and dewatering until about April of 2010. The structural concrete is scheduled for April to October 2010, with erection of the structural steel to be completed between October 2010 and October 2011. The project is expected to be completed by April 2014, after installation of the exterior skin by July 2012 and the interior build-out between April 2011 and January 2014.

Subcontractors for the project include Arup for Structural Engineering, Gayner Engineers for Mechanical/Plumbing, Rosendin Electric and FW Associates for Electrical, SJ Engineers for Fire Protection, and Treadwell Rollo for Geotechnical engineering.

An SF General Hospital press release reported that, “Due to the unique complexities of the design and construction of this type of building, Webcor Builders will use Building Information Modeling and implement a program of Integrated Project Delivery to achieve the earliest practical engagement of qualified contractors. The early collaboration of key subcontractors with the architectural, engineering and building teams can significantly reduce wasted process steps and errors, resulting in a better designed and built final product.”

The building will be constructed on base isolators to withstand a major seismic event. The new hospital is seeking a minimum of LEED Silver certification. Sustainable practices for the construction include recycling or salvaging 95 percent of the construction and demolition debris and using materials with recycled content so that recycled material constitutes 10 percent of total materials used. Fifty percent of the new permanently installed wood used will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and all adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, composite wood, and agrifiber products will have low amounts of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) to increase the quality of indoor air.

Sustainable features of the project include a stormwater design that will capture and treat 90 percent of the average annual rainfall for reuse onsite; using a combination of roofing materials with a high Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) and a vegetated roof system to reduce the “heat island effect” of the roof. The building will feature increased use of outside air for ventilation, reduced energy consumption, more efficient water use by selecting drought tolerant plantings and using high efficiency irrigation fixtures, and a comprehensive “green” cleaning/housekeeping program.

The new facility will also give the hospital the opportunity for a much needed modernization and expansion. The project is funded by a $887.4 million bond measure (Prop A) passed by 84 percent of city voters in the November 2008 election. The bond was strongly supported by labor unions including the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, the business community, Mayor Gavin Newsom, the entire Board of Supervisors, and the Democratic, Republican and Green Parties. Many building trades union members and hospital workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and SEIU-United Health Care Workers West volunteered for phone banking and precinct walks to pass the bond measure.

The non-profit San Francisco General Hospital Foundation is raising funds to cover the $120 to $130 million cost of new hospital furniture, supplies and equipment.
The hospital must be rebuilt by a 2015 deadline set the California Senate in a 1996 bill that requires that hospitals meet seismic safety regulations and remain functional after a major earthquake. The current hospital, which will not undergo any retrofitting for now, would continue to house outpatient clinics and other services indefinitely.

SF General is the only level 1 trauma center serving the 1.5 million residents of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County and treats 1,500 patients every day. The next-closest level 1 trauma centers are in Davis and at Stanford. The hospital provides a full range of care, including emergency, trauma, in-patient, primary care, specialized medical and surgical services, diagnostic and rehabilitation services.

The hospital also provides a full complement of mental health services, from psychiatric emergency services to in-patient psychiatric care and rehabilitation and post-hospitalization care. SF General treats 1,500 patients a day and nearly 100,000 per year, mostly uninsured and underinsured. It is San Francisco’s hospital for all—delivering state-of-the-art medicine to whom ever arrives at its doors. It is at the center of San Francisco’s pioneering initiative to provide universal health care to residents.

The project will create jobs for local construction workers as well as for young people who will be brought in to apprenticeship programs. The project will create an estimated 3,000 jobs, with about half going to San Francisco residents through local hire requirements.