By Post Staff

Staff, patients’ families, and supporters held a rally recently at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland to protest the hospital’s decision to relocate specialized treatment clinics to San Francisco.

Protesters said the move is creating barriers for patients to access care and raised concerns over whether the hospital was appropriately using funds partially designated for pediatric services.

In response, hospital officials say they are concentrating resources for highly specialized procedures so patients can receive the highest quality of care.

One of the speakers at the rally, Paola Portillo, a social worker, said the hospital started transferring the clinics a year ago when UCSF Health integrated with the Children’s Hospital Oakland, located at 747 52nd St. in North Oakland.

According to Portillo, patients who need bone marrow treatments and interventional radiology are forced to travel to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, which can be dangerous, she said.

“Children who go through a bone marrow transplant are immunocompromised, meaning that their immune system has been wiped out,” and having to take public transport to San Francisco exposes patients to the risk of getting a dangerous infection, she said.

UCSF spokesperson Kristen Bole says the move improves the hospital’s quality of care, giving bone marrow treatment (BMT) as an example.

“Inpatient BMT is a highly complex service where patient volume, specialized infrastructure, faculty coverage and 24/7 support are essential,” she said in a statement. “Concentrating non-gene therapy inpatient BMT care at Mission Bay allows us to provide the safest and most sustainable model for patients and families.”

Hospital officials also emphasized that moving care was not a one-way street. Beginning this month, patients admitted for rehabilitative treatment have been directed to the children’s hospital in Oakland, Bole said.

Speakers at the rally also claimed UCSF has not been transparent about how it has allocated funding from 2020’s Measure C, a measure that created a half-percent sales tax that partially funded pediatric health care at the children’s hospital.

“The community fought so hard for Measure C because every child deserves access to lifesaving, pediatric, high-quality care right here in Oakland,” said Agnes Cho, a policy advisor speaking on behalf of Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas. “The funding should go towards strengthening care for children right here in Oakland.”

Protesters also said UCSF’s $3.3 billion endowment has been misused. Last October, the University Professional & Technical Employees union published a report on the University of California’s spending, which highlighted projects such as the $4.3 billion UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights.

“What I have a problem with is saying the kids from the East Bay have to go to San Francisco to get care, so that UC can build a fancy hospital for its richest patients in San Francisco,” said union President Dan Russell.

The UCSF spokesperson said UCSF has been investing in its Oakland campus, explaining that upgrades that are expected to be completed in 2030 at a cost of $1.6 billion.

“Oakland is central to our pediatric health system, and we are making the largest investment in the campus’ history,” the spokeswoman said. “We do not make investments of this scale in a campus, workforce or community we plan to leave behind.”

This article includes coverage from Bay City News Service and media releases.

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Pushes for Oakland-based Firms to Provide Repair for City-Operated Vehicles

Part 1

Concerned about how Oakland-based and/or minority firms have been “systematically omitted from bidding on millions of dollars of city work through the ‘waiver process’ and through neglect,” Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston challenged an agenda item at Tuesday’s council meeting that would have awarded more than $6 million to suburban contractors for body and fender work on City vehicles.

Houston said, “I was concerned that, of the contracts presented, only one was awarded to a small, homegrown Oakland business — Quality Body & Fender located on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The remaining contracts—with the exception of one additional contract added—were awarded to vendors located outside of the City of Oakland (Dixon, Concord and San Leandro), leaving out certified Oakland businesses, some of whom have been here for over 30 years.

“As both a City Councilmember and someone who was born and raised in Oakland, I believe we have a responsibility to invest in the businesses that invest in our community. When qualified local companies have the expertise and capacity to perform the work, they deserve a fair opportunity to compete for City contracts.

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“I am proud to see Oakland’s Quality Body & Fender receive a $1.05 million City contract. This award recognizes a longstanding Oakland business and reflects the values that local companies bring to our community. Supporting qualified local vendors helps strengthen our local economy, creates opportunities for Oakland jobs and businesses, and keeps public investment circulating within our city,” he said.

Houston’s comments bring to mind the recent disparity study by Mason Tillman Associates for Oakland, which concluded that African American and women-owned businesses did not receive contracts comparable to their populations, but moreover nearly 65% of the city’s prime contracts were awarded to non-Oakland businesses.

“Supporting local businesses means investing in our own economy,” Houston said. “When we keep Oakland City dollars local, we strengthen small businesses, create jobs, and build long-term economic prosperity for our community.”

A procurement process that values Local and Small Business Enterprise (L/SBE) participation should recognize the broader economic benefits of awarding contracts to qualified Oakland businesses, he said.

Houston introduced Enoch Shin, operator of an automobile repair company at 1722 International Blvd., as an example of a business owner who is losing money, employees, and opportunities to generate revenues for Oakland.

Shin said he has lost $6 million in the last two years and laid off 19 employees, a workforce that consisted of African Americans, Asians, Indians, and many others.

Houston noted that the issue will come up for further consideration this fall before the full City Council.

“I will continue advocating for a procurement process that gives qualified, local vendors meaningful opportunities to compete while recognizing the long-term value of keeping Oakland’s investments in Oakland.

Houston encouraged all Oaklanders to participate in the upcoming City Council hearing. “Your voice matters, and together we can ensure our city’s investments benefit the people and businesses that call our community home,” Houston said.

He also announced that he will accept an invitation to join a citywide town hall with the Post Impact Foundation, inviting the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to lead the Oakland business community and the Port of Oakland to join with other business advocates from the Black, Asian and Hispanic communities. “A lot of these decisions to exclude Oakland-based businesses are being made by city staff who don’’ live here,” Houston said.

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By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council cast its final vote this week approving the sale of the Oakland Coliseum complex to Oakland-based African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) for $125 million, which supporters say will bring immense benefits to city residents, including billions of dollars in future development, new jobs and housing to East Oakland, and generate much-needed income for the city.

Mayor Barbara Lee thanked the City Council for approving the deal and city staff for the hard work negotiating the final agreement.

“This agreement is one step forward toward creating jobs and economic opportunity in East and Deep East Oakland… communities that have been historically underserved,” Mayor Lee said in a video statement.

The city owns a 50% interest in the complex, and Alameda County, which owns the remaining half, has already approved its part of the deal.

Under the terms of the sale of the Coliseum complex to Oakland Acquisition Company, affiliated with the AASEG, the $125 million agreement will provide the city with 6% of ticket revenue from events at the complex.

The deal also allows a $50 million all-cash sale of the Oakland Arena to a third party, the Oak View Group (OVG). According to OVG co-founder Irving Azoff, the company will invest $40 million in upgrades to the arena.

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Councilmember Noel Gallo, who made the motion, said: “This $50 million payment will be immediately assigned for the retirement benefits for our police, fire and city employees, since we are three years behind in making our payments to the state retirement fund.”

Providing financial protections to the city, the final deal removes the city’s obligation to pay millions of dollars to maintain the property. It also requires a bond to protect the city if payments on the property are not made when they are due. 

The 112-acre Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex is one of the city’s largest development sites. The city’s agreement culminates several years of negotiations with AASEG, an Oakland-based, Black-led developer that partnered with Loop Capital, one of the largest Black-owned investment banks in the world.

Gallo also invited a student volunteer named Mateo Ridge to join in the photo celebration to help send a message that Oakland’s future rests “with our youth who will volunteer to help keep our parks, recreation areas and neighborhood streets clean.”

Ridge, who is the grandson of Jane Garcia from La Clinica La Raza, will be entering as a freshman in Middle College High School in Contra Costa County.

Gallo also has agreed to work with the Oakland Post and El Mundo newspapers to expand a city-wide movement of volunteers to help expand his pioneering efforts to remove the trash from the streets.

Paul Cobb said he would take up Gallo’s offer by scheduling meetings with neighborhood groups, churches and the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to provide business leadership to help build pride in Oakland.

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