Position Paper Sequoia Healthcare District

By Gerald "Gerald Shefren" Shefren

The Sequoia Healthcare District has invested your tax dollars since 1946 in multiple ways to improve the health of District residents. The multiple grants provided each year touch thousands of lives, fill some of the gaps in health services not provided by other organizations or agencies, and in one way or another benefit every resident. The District is directly responsible to you to voter.

1. I have been a practicing physician on the peninsula for 40 years and have also held administrative roles at local hospitals, and healthplans over the past 20 years. My broad experience in many levels of healthcare gives me a strong background on how best to invest resources to make our community healthier.

2. My three main objectives if re-elected are: a. Improve the ability of the district to measure the outcomes of the programs we support.

b. To identify and collaborate with other entities to increase the impact of our investments.

c. To identify new and innovative programs that provide preventative health benefits for our residents

3. The Sequoia Healthcare District was originally formed in 1946 as the Sequoia Hospital District to build Sequoia Hospital. I am confident the voters at that time determined that building a hospital was an excellent way to create a healthy community. In 1994 the California state legislature changed hospital districts into healthcare districts recognizing that the needs of a healthy community had changed. Key among those changes was the dramatic shift of healthcare services out of hospitals and into the outpatient setting. We no longer want to put people into hospitals, now we want to keep them out of hospitals.

4. The District receives approximately $9.5 million dollars in tax revenue each year. That comes to about $43 per resident. The District invests 100% of the tax dollars received each year in programs your elected Board believes will improve the health of district residents now and long into the future. As an example, the district promotes healthy lifestyles through grants to public schools and other agencies. District programs have placed over 250 defibrillators devices throughout the community to treat cardiac arrest victims and we provide CPR classes free to district residents as part of our heart program. We are providing almost $3 million dollars to our schools for school nurses and health programs of all kinds. We provide over $1million dollars in grants to organizations with demonstrated success in treating health problems and especially providing preventive health programs. We improve access to healthcare through funding of the Samaritan House free clinic in Redwood City and funding of health insurance for children. This $9.5 million dollar investment makes our community healthier.

5. Some have called for a referendum to determine if the Sequoia Healthcare District should continue its work. They argue that since the District does not own a hospital as originally voted on 68 years ago, current residents should be asked to vote on this again. This does not make sense to me for the following reasons: A. Property taxes will not change no matter what the result of the referendum--our taxes will remain the same B. A referendum will cost taxpayers many of thousands of dollars which could be better used for healthcare programs C. The lack of any significant controversy about the district, suggests the voters will strongly support a continuation of the district and its programs.