Press Conference TODAY—11:00 a.m.
Daly City Mayor David Canepa, Nurses, and Community Leaders Urge State Attorney General to Keep Seton a Full Service Hospital

Daly City Mayor David Canepa, registered nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, and local residents, will hold a press conference today  outside  Seton Medical Center to demand that the facility remains a full-service acute care hospital. It is believed the Daughters of Charity Health System will make a decision on a buyer for their seven hospitals in California sometime in the next two months.
 
Many of the Daughters of Charity hospitals in California, including Seton, serve predominantly low income, medically underserved communities who would be especially harmed by cuts in hospital care and other patient services. Daly City also has one of the largest Filipino populations in the state who would be affected by the loss of Seton.

 (Bay Area location)
 
“Today, we are taking proactive steps with the community to insure that Seton Medical Center  remains a full service community hospital, and I am asking California Attorney General Kamala Harris to assure that happens,” said Daly City Mayor David Canepa. “Seton is important to San Mateo County, and provides much needed healthcare to the area. A hospital without emergency services jeopardizes the health care of hundreds of thousands of people who live in North San Mateo County.”
 
"As nurses, we know how important Seton is to our community, said Teresa Ocampo, an RN at the facility. “We need this hospital remain open with all the services it currently provides and we will be ready fight along side our patients and community to ensure this happens.”

When:           
Monday August, 11. 2014, 11:00 a.m.

Where:           
Seton Hospital 1900 Sullivan Avenue (On the sidewalk before you enter the driveway) Daly City, Ca

Who:              
Speakers for the program will include: Daly City Mayor David Canepa, Zenei Cortez, RN, CNA/NNU co-president Teresa Ocampo,  RN, Seton  Hospital, Sandra Gordon, Community Leader, Fr. Leonard Oakes
 
California law requires the Attorney General's review and consent for any sale or transfer of a health care facility owned or operated by a nonprofit corporation whose assets are held in public trust. The review process includes public meetings and, when necessary, preparation of expert reports. The Attorney General's decision often requires the continuation of existing levels of charity care, continued operation of emergency rooms and other essential services, and other actions necessary to avoid adverse effects on healthcare in the local community.
 
The RNs issued five core principals that any new owner must agree to uphold in the best interest of their patients:

1. Acquire the whole hospital system. Breaking the system into pieces could leave some communities at risk.

2. Keep the hospitals open and maintain all services.

Our communities need our hospitals—closing services puts lives in danger.

3.  Hire all RNs—Any reduction in staffing is harmful to our patients.

4. All retirement promises to nurses are kept. Nurses gave years of service to our hospitals and must be able to retire with dignity.

5. Respect collective bargaining rights and not impose cuts to staffing, wages, or benefits as part of the sale.
 
In a press statement issued today Mayor Canepa made the following demands  to Atoorney General Harris related to condition for the sale:

1. Review the potential sale of the DCHS, to carefully consider the historic commitments of the Daughters of Charity to sustain healthcare for the sick, poor and elderly of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties by insuring that Seton Medical Center will be maintained as a full-service acute care hospital.

2. The City Council urges Attorney General Harris to ensure that all healthcare workers who staff each of the DCHS medical centers and related facilities will be recognized for their years of dedicated service by requiring a potential buyer to retain all current employees, honor existing labor agreements and pension obligations through the transition to a new health system provider.