One of San Francisco's main hospital chains may miss a state deadline to meet earthquake safety standards.
The San Francisco Examiner reports that's because of lengthy negotiations over the California Pacific Medical Center's plans to build a new facility on Cathedral Hill.
CPMC wants to move most of its beds from its four San Francisco hospitals to the new 555-bed hospital - so it can comply with a seismic safety mandate without retrofitting its four aging facilities.
The hospital chain must move the patients to the new building by January 2015.
Negotiations with the City have backed up for a number of reasons. Among them - the amount of charity care CPMC is willing to provide as well as its contributions to affordable housing and transit.
Critics also say they worry the possible transfer of specialized services from St. Luke's Hospital in the Mission neighborhood to other hospitals could leave that area under-served.
CPMC has said in the past it would build health clinics in the Mission and Tenderloin neighborhoods, but some community groups want more. They say Sutter Health, the parent company of CPMC, provides fewer benefits than other Bay area hospitals of the same size. A spokesman for CPMC disputes that.
