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Sequoia Healthcare District Candidates Speak on Issues (Continued from page 7)
Stogner: No. The reason for this is that the
health care district cannot legally be merged with
any entity because it has no legislative basis for
existence in its current form.
West-Gorrin: We should consider strategic
alliances that would expand our ability to serve
our community.
3. The district spends roughly 8
percent of its annual budget on
the San Francisco State University
Nursing Program. How does this
expenditure specifically help
residents of the district?
Barbara: There are many benefits to our district
coming from our partnership with this program.
Many of the students that are trained through the
program are residents of the district. The classes
are held locally at Cañada College and many of
the graduates are hired at Sequoia Hospital and
other facilities within the district.
Faro: It assures us that we have a sufficient
supply of registered nurses for our hospitals
(including Sequoia and Kaiser), clinics and
outpatient facilities. Secondly, it helps us ensure
that we can meet the demand of the future. And
thirdly, guarantees we have the optimum level of
patient-nurse ratios for maximum patient care.
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Graham: If at all, only marginally. What
percentage of nursing graduates from SFSU
Nursing Program actually work in the district to
justify the investment?
Hickey: The current program disproportionately
favors Sequoia Hospital, begging a class action
lawsuit by members of Kaiser, Stanford Medical,
PAMF and other health care providers who benefit
little from the program. Nurses unions logically
should address nurses’ training by making student
loans paid back through surcharges on union dues
collected from nurses.
Shefren: This program was developed as a
partnership with Cañada College through the San
Francisco State University program. All classes
are held at Cañada and most of the students are
district residents. At the initiation of the program,
there was an increasing nursing shortage in the
district. The changes in the California state laws
since that time has made the shortages even more
acute. A steady supply of qualified nurses in this area
is an important component to having an effective
health care system and a healthy community.
Stogner: The issue is not how expenditures
benefit residents. The issue is that the Sequoia
Healthcare District in its current form has never
been approved by the voters.
West-Gorrin: This program is part of the
curriculum offered at our local community
college, Cañada College, in partnership with
San Francisco State and Sequoia Hospital. The
goal is to produce 300 to 400 new nurses for this
region, benefiting both the local students and our
community by increasing the number of qualified
nurses as we face a shortage of nurses.
4. How can grant recipients prove
the money they receive from the
district goes toward improving the
health of district residents?
Barbara: The district staff currently monitors
the grants and holds recipients responsible for
delivering on their promises by following up with
them and including district board members and
our grants committee members in the process.
If elected, I would like to expand the volunteer
grants committee’s responsibilities to include
quarterly progress reports.
Faro: The district staff, grants committee and
board have procedures in place to monitor the
efficacy of the work the recipients do that is
funded by the district. Reviews are routinely
conducted by the grants committee and staff.
Board members (four out of five) actually make
site visits, as does the staff.
(continued on page 29)