San Francisco Budget Crisis: Department of Public Health Services to Remain Intact

Many analysts have declared a crisis in San Francisco's finances as a result of the decline of the dot-com economy and the decline in travel and tourism. The mayor's office expects a shortfall of between $60 million and $100 million.

The city announced last week that it plans to balance its $5.2 billion budget -- its largest ever -- without layoffs, discontinuation of city services or new fees, and without touching the general fund reserve. Using a combination of methods, department financial officers believe they can balance their budgets without service cuts.

One of the biggest players in the resolution was the Department of Public Health (DPH) which, according to Mayor Willie Brown, "volunteered" a budget reduction of almost $5 million, the largest of any single department.

"We don't think there will be any impact on any direct patient care services this year," said Monique Zmuda, the chief financial officer for DPH. "The HIV services are not going to be impacted. The bulk of our HIV services are delivered at the hospital and there are no cuts at the hospital."

The city's general fund provides only about 30 percent of DPH's budget, which is just short of a billion dollars. About an equal amount comes from MediCal and the balance from Medicare and other miscellaneous, mainly governmental sources. The department and its subsidiary, Community Health Network, had about a $77 million (9 percent) increase in its budget for this year and intended to hire more than 120 new employees.

"Five million dollars, well, it's a very large number in absolute terms. Relative to the Health Department budget, which is $970 million, it's not," said Dr. Mitchell Katz, DPH director.

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