October 9, 2019
MHASF Continues Campaign to Save Permanent Long-Term Psychiatric Beds at SF General Hospital
ARISE Members and MHASF Staff joined health care providers, patients, family members and community members in a campaign that forced the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) to “pause” its plan to close 41 permanent long term psychiatric beds at the Adult Residential Facility (ARF), part of the Behavioral Health Center (BHC) at SF General Hospital and replace them with 27 beds for short term use at the Hummingbird House Navigation Center.
On September 17, we shut down the Health Commission Meeting to demand that DPH “Save The ARF.”
At the October 1st Health Commission Meeting, nurses, ARF residents, family and community members commented publicly to demand that DPH fill empty beds at the BHC and not convert them to short term use.
ARF resident Marcus Huiseman (pictured below) led the efforts both days at the Health Commission.
Mission Local wrote a series of articles about this growing scandal at ARF and BHC:
DPH falsely claiming it kept beds empty because of “probation.”
People languishing in jail waiting for beds while beds are empty.
You can sign an online petition to stop SFDPH from displacing people from ARF and from outsourcing jobs.
