Seniors with mental illnesses to be evicted from SF General Hospital

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In San Francisco on Thursday, residents, family, staff and supporters demonstrated against a plan to close the Behavioral Health Center at SF General Hospital.

The group says following through would displace the most vulnerable seniors for those with severe mental illness.

"I'm concerned that we don't have a safe environment like we have here," said Rufus Timmonn, a patient at the Behavioral Health Center at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, who doesn't want to move to another facility.

Timmons is one of 82 patients who were told they need to move out of the first and second floors of this building. The patients are treated for serious mental illness but are considered stable and can go in and out of the building on their own. The third floor is specifically for patients with severe mental illness who need to be in a locked facility. The city now wants to turn all three floors into locked down housing for severe cases.

"Because of that shortage, that lack of those kind of beds people end up waiting for a long period of time in the emergency room for a bed when they in a crisis in a mental health crisis or they don't even get to the emergency. They are homeless. Some of them end up in jail as a result of their mental illness because are not getting the care they need," said Dr. Mark Leary, deputy chief psychiatrist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

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This plan is part of Mayor Daniel Lurie's goal to add 1,500 shelter beds within six months of assuming office. Dr. Leary believes the plan will be crucial.

"We are actually in a crisis right now because we don't have enough locked long term care psychiatric beds for people that have serious mental illness, and need to be in a stable safe locked setting for them to get their treatment," said Dr. Leary.

"With this plan, the behavioral health center which now has about 50 of these locked beds will be able to add 100 more. Which will roughly double the capacity that we have to treat patients at this level of care in San Francisco,"

Many wondered where the 82 patients will go?

In a statement, the city's department of public health said:

"SFDPH has plans to transfer all residents - as a community - to new facilities in Hayes Valley where they will remain under DPH care. Residents can also choose another SFDPH facility if they prefer."

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624 Laguna Street is one of the facilities the city is planning to transfer some of the 82 patients from SF General. The city says this facility will be better for this population, but advocates disagree.

"The state of California gave us $21 million, and I think we need to look back at St. Francis and open those locked beds there - and I think we can look at all the buildings the city currently owns or could acquire that are in San Francisco to open those locked beds without displacing people who are stable and permanently housed," said Jennifer Esteen, nurse and vice president of organizing with SEIU 1021.

Antoinette Conde is concerned the transfer will destabilize her brother who has lived in this facility for five years. She questioned the city's approach of speaking to patients without family present.

"Why? Why are you doing this? They can't even express themselves," said Conde.

According to the hospital, all residents are set to be moved out by fall of 2026.