March 2002

California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), which operates Davies Medical Center at Castro & Duboce Streets in San Francisco (as well as other major hospitals in our City), is developing plans for changes in operations and to the buildings/grounds at Davies. Two neighborhood-based organizations near Davies – the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Assn. (DTNA) and the Buena Vista Neighborhood Assn. (BVNA) – distributed a six page, 17 question, professionally-designed survey seeking community reaction and input regarding CPMC’s current plans. The survey was conducted in January-February 2002 among about 4,300 households within several blocks of the Davies campus. About 340 completed surveys were returned, which is 8% of those distributed. That is a statistically valid (+/-5% at the 95% confidence level) sample size. Survey results are being shared with the community, CPMC, and city and state officials and agencies that have jurisdiction as CPMC seeks permit approvals for its proposed changes. The results also are expected to be a major basis for an ongoing dialogue between CPMC and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The survey of neighborhood reactions to CPMC’s plans for Davies Medical Center identifies two issues of major concern to the neighborhood:

• Eliminating the Davies Emergency Room by 2012 and putting an Urgent Care Center in its place
• Increased car traffic and stronger pressure on street parking spaces that are anticipated as a result of the higher activity loads envisioned for the hospital when it is converted to a primarily "continuum of care" facility.

The neighborhood is not satisfied with replacing the ER with an Urgent Care Center. There is a strong desire and strongly-felt need to have an ER right in the neighborhood for personal assurance as well as for disaster preparedness.

With regard to the second major concern--increased car traffic and pressure on street parking spaces--the survey indicates that respondents are somewhat more in favor of mass transit solutions compared to simply increasing parking facilities. Respondents feel that more widespread use of mass transit can be encouraged if CPMC would:

• Subsidize hospital employees’ commute expenses and
• Provide shuttle services to and from mass transit hubs (BART and Muni Metro stations) for hospital employees and visitors alike.

Solutions like providing parking for hospital staff, neighbors and local businesses, while endorsed by the majority, are not supported as unanimously as the mass transit solutions are. In fact, the sample is split on the question of building additional parking facilities at the Davies campus, with 41% in favor and 50% opposed to this idea.

The concern with increased traffic is such that when asked to rate community-based benefits/services that might be requested of CPMC to help off-set the impact of their plans, the traffic-related measures are the most popular: funding for pedestrian safety and traffic calming measures around the hospital, and funding to re-design a more user-friendly stop for the N-Judah line obtained the most favorable ratings.

In addition, respondents are very positive to the idea of aligning mass transit stops with hospital entrances, in order to make what is currently a long, difficult, uphill walk (especially for the sick and elderly) shorter and less strenuous. As this would significantly improve physical access to the hospital, it may also encourage use of mass transit among hospital users who currently find this walk daunting. The other ideas to improve physical access to the hospital are also well-received, suggesting that current access may be considered problematic. These ideas include improving signage to make it easier to get around the hospital, installing transit monitors inside Davies buildings that provide information on the next train/bus, and creating more visible public entrances to the hospital from all four streets bordering the campus.

Respondents are also generally in favor of the ideas to improve the current design of DMC, especially retaining open spaces for public viewing of cityscapes. In addition, a number of respondents wrote comments on their questionnaires regarding the importance of keeping and maintaining the existing trees and landscaping in the Davies campus.

Respondents’ overall opinions on the aesthetic and architectural appeal of the current Davies buildings and grounds are mixed: 42% consider them appealing, 35% find them unappealing and 24% are neutral. The rather lukewarm levels of "Very appealing" ratings (13%) suggest that changes to the current design are unlikely to be met with fervent resistance, assuming that the changes will be appropriate and neither too drastic nor extreme.

Finally and importantly, the survey reveals the presence of a very high level of goodwill for Davies Medical Center among respondents: 79% feel positive about having DMC in their neighborhood, including 54% saying they feel "Very positive". This suggests that respondents’ opposition to some specific CPMC plans as communicated in this survey are given in good faith toward a well-regarded neighbor, rather than being merely a knee-jerk reaction to change. As CPMC goes forward on its project, it can leverage this goodwill to work out issues and solutions identified by this survey, so that the changes at Davies can become a win-win for both CPMC and the neighborhood. Goodwill is an intangible business asset, but a very valuable one nonetheless; it is simply a good business decision for CPMC to protect and retain this level of goodwill among its neighbors who are also its customers, as it moves forward to modify and fine-tune its plans.

The full Research Report, of which this is a brief summary, can be seen online at www.DTNA.org If you do not have internet access, contact DTNA at 415/431-5317 or BVNA at 415/431-2359 to request a copy. Please also contact us if you would like to be involved in and/or informed about the ongoing dialogue between CPMC and DTNA/BVNA regarding the proposed changes at Davies. Finally, while it is not required to get further information nor to participate in the Davies dialogue, we also hope you will consider membership in DTNA or BVNA, as applicable to your location, to help support our work on this and other projects of interest and benefit to our community.

Last updated Mar 11, 2002