Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

6 hours ago

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

7 hours ago

Gold Price to Stay Above $3,000/Oz as Flight to Safety Endures

8 hours ago

S&P, Nasdaq at Record Highs as US-EU Trade Deal Sparks Optimism in Pivotal Week

8 hours ago

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

9 hours ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

1 day ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

2 days ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

3 days ago
San Francisco Board Rebukes Naming Hospital for Facebook CEO
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 16, 2020

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — Supervisors in San Francisco overwhelmingly approved a resolution Tuesday condemning the naming of the city’s public hospital for Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, in 2015 after the couple gave $75 million toward a new acute care and trauma center.

The nonbinding resolution does not have the force of law and does not require the hospital to do anything. The hospital was the first in San Francisco to administer vaccines protecting against the coronavirus on Tuesday. The current board does not have the authority to revoke the agreement, resolution co-sponsor Supervisor Gordon Mar said.

But he said the resolution would send the message that San Francisco is not for sale and that a public hospital that caters to the poor should not bear the name of someone whose social media platform endangers public health, spreads misinformation and violates privacy.

“There’s been growing public outrage that this important public health institution was named and the naming rights were sold to the highest bidder and to somebody as controversial as Mr. Zuckerberg and Facebook,” he said.

The measure passed 10-1, with Board President Norman Yee the only no vote.

He said nonprofits often use naming rights to spur donations and while this involved city property, he could not support the condemnation without more of a policy discussion.

Yee said he would support a move to remove Zuckerberg’s name and retain Dr. Chan’s name on the hospital. He was among several supervisors behind the 2015 resolution that approved the gift and name change.

San Francisco, where Zuckerberg and Chan have a home, has increasingly soured on the social media behemoth, dismayed by the company’s sluggish response to protecting consumer privacy and halting the proliferation of false statements. The federal government is seeking to break up Facebook as lawmakers call for stronger oversight of a company they say has gotten too big.

Tuesday’s resolution is not a new sentiment as local Facebook critics, including some nurses at San Francisco General, have argued for years to remove the Zuckerberg name. They say the new name, good for 50 years, is inappropriate when San Francisco taxpayers are paying for most of the hospital’s upgrade by approving more than $1 billion in bonds.

The Hospital Is Closely Entwined With San Francisco.

Julie French, a hospital employee, said in an email via her personal account to the supervisors that while it would be reasonable to name a building, cafeteria or rooftop for big donors, to rename the whole hospital is “a slap in the face.”

“We are not a ballpark or a stadium to be bought and sold for commercial purposes. We are a public hospital of and for the people of the city and county of San Francisco. We deserve to have that dignity preserved,” she said.

But Dr. Susan Ehrlich, chief executive of the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, said in a statement that the donation has allowed the hospital to acquire state-of-the-art technology and the naming reflects their appreciation.

“Naming is an important convention in philanthropy that encourages additional donors, and our hospital relies on the support of the community, the City and County of San Francisco, and generous private philanthropy,” she said.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the couple’s philanthropic arm, directed requests for comment to the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. Its CEO, Kim Meredith, said in a statement the gift helped pay for needed furniture, fixtures and equipment for the new hospital. She added that Chan studied and practiced as a resident pediatrician at the hospital.

“We are proud that the hospital now bears their names and disappointed in attempts to condemn it – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when the impact of their gift has never been greater,” she said.

The hospital is closely entwined with San Francisco.

It survived the 1906 earthquake and fire and treated patients in ensuing health crises, including the 1918 Spanish influenza, the AIDS epidemic and the current coronavirus pandemic. The hospital serves more than 100,000 people annually.

The resolution declares that the city and county of San Francisco should not reward tax dodges, which some say the donation is. It also lists a number of Facebook’s failings, including its failure to protect users from major security breaches, including its Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal in 2018.

The mayor at the time of the donation, Ed Lee, praised the agreement as did the current mayor, London Breed, who was president of the Board of Supervisors when a board with different members approved the name change.

The resolution also urges city departments to establish clear standards and criteria so that naming rights reflect San Francisco values of social and racial justice.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

DON'T MISS

Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Entry to US Over Travel Ban

DON'T MISS

Fresno Seals Deal with Police Union. No Deal Yet With Firefighters.

DON'T MISS

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

DON'T MISS

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

DON'T MISS

Naindeep Singh Joins Fresno City Council Race as Campaign Fundraising Totals Roll In

DON'T MISS

Fresno Home Suffers Major Damage in Saturday Night Fire, Family Cat Rescued

DON'T MISS

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

DON'T MISS

Fox Business News Host Throws Shade at Merced Over High-Speed Rail

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

UP NEXT

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

UP NEXT

California May Soon Ban Selling New Glocks Like Kamala Harris Owns

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

UP NEXT

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

UP NEXT

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

UP NEXT

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

UP NEXT

Key Player in California’s Water Wars Embraces Controversial Newsom Plan

UP NEXT

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

UP NEXT

California Political Lobbying Firm Agrees to Settle Federal Fraud Allegations

UP NEXT

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

47 minutes ago

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

2 hours ago

Naindeep Singh Joins Fresno City Council Race as Campaign Fundraising Totals Roll In

2 hours ago

Fresno Home Suffers Major Damage in Saturday Night Fire, Family Cat Rescued

3 hours ago

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

3 hours ago

Fox Business News Host Throws Shade at Merced Over High-Speed Rail

3 hours ago

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

3 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years for Role in Opioid Trafficking Scheme

4 hours ago

Two Killed in Shooting at Nevada Casino, Local Media Reports

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Three, Recover Thousands in Stolen Goods During Search Warrant

4 hours ago

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

A Fresno County man was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder in a deadly wrong-way crash that killed a 22...

26 minutes ago

26 minutes ago

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a nuclear cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani (not pictured), at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 16, 2025. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)
30 minutes ago

Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Entry to US Over Travel Ban

Fresno City Hall Fresno Police Officers Association
41 minutes ago

Fresno Seals Deal with Police Union. No Deal Yet With Firefighters.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam March 2, 2019. (Reuters File)
47 minutes ago

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

San Diego Homeless Encampment
2 hours ago

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

2 hours ago

Naindeep Singh Joins Fresno City Council Race as Campaign Fundraising Totals Roll In

A Saturday, July 26, 2025, night house fire on North Gearhart in Fresno displaced residents and caused major damage, but no injuries were reported and firefighters rescued a cat from the home. (Fresno FD)
3 hours ago

Fresno Home Suffers Major Damage in Saturday Night Fire, Family Cat Rescued

.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) looks on during a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the midair collision involving American Airlines 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on January 29, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend