Westside Mental Health Clinic Gets Reprieve

By Carol Dimmick

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, responding to pressure from the public, has agreed to restore funding to a popular mental health clinic in the Sunset District that was slated to close due to budget cuts.

Although details were not available as of presstime, SF Supervisor Fiona Ma said the clinic was spared because of an outpouring of public support.

"I told (Newsom) that it was non-negotiable," Ma said of the SF Department of Public Health's initial plan to close the facility to save money.

The clinic, a fixture at 1990 41st Ave. since 1968, serves a large population of Cantonese- and Russian-speaking adults and children with mental illnesses living in the west side of the City.

Pressure on the mayor to spare the clinic from westside residents started to build in early May after top officials with the health department announced they would close the clinic and sell the building in order to save $3.7 million. That plan was part of a strategy by the department to come up with $32 million in savings that was mandated by Newsom, who is trying to close a $353 million budget shortfall.

Department officials said the decision was part of a long-term strategy to consolidate primary care and mental health services by merging four clinics, two in the Sunset District and two in the Mission District.

Ma, responding to an outpouring of community support for the clinic, held press conferences and public meetings in May to put pressure on Newsom to keep the clinic open.

In a message aimed at the mayor, she linked the clinic's closure to Newsom's campaign promise to seek a comprehensive approach to the city's homeless problem.

"If we are to effectively address homelessness, we cannot close such important safety nets," Ma said.

Closing the clinic is just one of many cost-cutting measures in the health department's $996.7 million budget for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. In addition to a $12.6 million reduction in its baseline budget, the department was asked to identify $19.7 million in contingency savings.

One effect of the budget reductions will be to increase the workload for the department's remaining staff, which is expected to result in delays in services. Another effect will be the elimination of popular programs, such as the SF AIDS Foundation program that delivers emotional support services to its patients and the dialysis unit for outpatients at SF General Hospital.

But it was the department's proposal to merge four primary care and mental health clinics that angered a large number of Sunset residents.

In a series of public meetings held to protest the merger of Sunset Mental Health Services with the Ocean Park Health Center on 24th Avenue, the clinic's staff, patients and family members spoke about the importance of keeping the clinic open.

"We found a home for my son when he became mentally ill," said one parent.