Governor's Promised Veto Won't End Our Campaign!

The movement for single payer health coverage took a giant step forward when the California Legislature passed SB840 in August and sent it to the governor's desk. Despite his announcement that he will veto the bill, he can't stop the momentum towards single payer - as noted Sept. 7 in a SF Chronicle op ed piece by Spyros Andreopoulos, Fortune magazine predicted a year ago that American corporate concerns about health insurance are so severe, due to strong global competition, that it may soon be Republicans who will be leading the charge for universal health coverage.

Our movement has never depended on a specific piece of legislation. Senator Sheila Kuehl will re-introduce a single payer bill next year, to succeed SB921 and SB840.

That's why the OneCareNow 365-City Campaign is so important. It builds grassroots support for the only rational, equitable and cost-effective answer to California's health care crisis.

The campaign kicked off Aug. 12 in Morro Bay. Alameda County's inaugural event took place on Sept. 8 in Albany, when health care advocates set up a literature table and gathered petition signatures in front of the Albany Library. Three days earlier, the Albany City Council passed a resolution endorsing SB840, thanks to the efforts of council member Robert Lieber, RN. The Berkeley Daily Planet published an op ed piece about the Albany efforts, SB840, and the OneCareNow campaign on Sept. 8 as well.

The next OneCareNow event in this county is scheduled for Oct. 23 in San Lorenzo. We are also tabling in many locations, most recently at the Central Labor Council's annual Labor Day picnic, where many sympathizers joined us to talk about our victory in the state legislature. Since the majority of our campaign materials don't refer explicitly to SB840, we don't need to re-tool our film, bumper stickers or banners. A new flyer has been prepared and the transition to a new legislative bill number next year should be smooth.

To get involved, go to www.OneCareNow.org, where you can find the contact people in your area, and learn the date of the next OneCareNow event. Many thanks to all of you who have donated time and money to the campaign. The fight for single payer has developed considerable momentum due to the collective efforts of a great many people!

The County must rebuild Fairmont Hospital for 21st Century

The Medical Center's Fairmont Hospital has long lived in the shadow cast by Highland Hospital. Highland, with its trauma center and emergency room, has received all the attention, and funding, while a succession of county administrators and Medical Center executives whittled away the services offered on the San Leandro campus.

The county shuttered the inpatient ward in the early 1990s, in a failed attempt to save money. While ACMC reduced expenses by closing the inpatient beds, it also lost more revenue than it saved, making the move a money-losing proposition.

Plans to eliminate the 120-bed skilled nursing facility (SNF) were shelved after Vote Health and community activists opposed the move, though the facility shrank to 90 beds. Next, the Medical Center closed Fairmont's successful urgent care clinic, and in 2003, ACMC shut down its outpatient clinics, which provided over 50,000 visits each year.

Now, the Medical Center and the county may close Fairmont's acute rehabilitation service, which serves twenty patients a day, on average, without analyzing the impact on ACMC's patients, the continuum of care for the county's low income and uninsured residents, or Medical Center revenue.

The problem is Fairmont's rehab service must either relocate to a seismically safe building by 2013, or close by 2008. County Health Care director Dave Kears has stated publicly that the county will not build a new rehab facility at Fairmont. Highland Hospital must also rebuild to meet stringent seismic standards, but Kears only wants to fund 118 beds, which is too small to accommodate Highland's existing inpatient services, let alone provide acute rehab beds.

While Kears has the ear of the Board of Supervisors, it is the supervisors, not the health care director, who will make the final decision about the Medical Center rebuild plan. But the Medical Center CEO and Board of Trustees must make the case for rehab. As a first step, the Board of Trustees will consider options for the Medical Center's rehabilitation program at the September 19th meeting of its Strategic Planning Committee.

The Board of Trustees is scheduled to present its proposal to rebuild ACMC facilities at a joint meeting of the two boards. At present, ACMC is only looking at the Highland campus. Vote Health urges the trustees and supervisors to consider an ACMC-wide rebuild plan, one designed to meet the needs of county residents and to ensure ACMC's financial stability:
Highland: between 166 and 190 beds, as recommended by ACMC's consultant;
Rehabilitation: either rebuild the service at Fairmont or relocate it on the Highland campus; and
Outpatient Clinics: reopen the Fairmont clinics to serve the growing central county population, and relocate the Newark clinic in a larger, modern facility in the south county.

Oversight Committee Reports Soon!

The Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee, which includes Vote Health officers Kay Eisenhower and Brad Cleveland, is drafting its first report on fiscal year 2004-2005 expenditures of Measure A funds. The committee was appointed late last year, so its first report is behind schedule. The committee is looking at whether all Measure A funds were spent in accordance with the language of the ordinance-to provide medical care to the indigent, low income and uninsured residents of Alameda County.

Don't Miss Single Payer, the Movie!

The SB 840 East Bay Coalition is sponsoring a screening of The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare, October 5, 7 p.m., at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland.

The evening will include a screening of the new documentary, entertainment and speakers, and will benefit the OneCareNow campaign. Tickets are $10 to 20, sliding scale. For more info, call 510/832.8683 or email info@ votehealth.org.

Newsletter committee:
Jan Arnold, Bradley Cleveland, Kay Eisenhower and Jim Forsyth.
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter.