Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
San Francisco Board Rebukes Naming Hospital for Facebook CEO
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 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

Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside Trump Hush Money Trial Court

DON'T MISS

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Are So Unreliable They’re a Meme. They Might Also Be a Climate Solution.

DON'T MISS

Real Estate Experts Talk Fresno’s Economic Future. Are Tough Times Ahead?

DON'T MISS

Unlocking the Secrets to Fresno State’s Superb Baseball Season

DON'T MISS

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

DON'T MISS

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

DON'T MISS

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

DON'T MISS

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

DON'T MISS

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

DON'T MISS

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

UP NEXT

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

UP NEXT

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

UP NEXT

Finding an Apartment May Be Easier for California Pet Owners Under New Legislation

UP NEXT

Who Owns Businesses in California? A Lawmaker Wants the Public to Know

UP NEXT

Barbara Corcoran: 1% Interest Rate Drop Will Send Housing Prices ‘Through the Roof’

UP NEXT

California Sets Long-Awaited Drinking Water Limit for ‘Erin Brockovich’ Contaminant

UP NEXT

See the Fully Equipped House Homeless People Built on LA Freeway Strip

UP NEXT

Juror Dismissed From Trump Hush Money Trial. Prosecutors Seek to Hold Former President in Contempt

UP NEXT

Biden Backs House’s Aid Package for Ukraine, Israel While Speaker Johnson Battles to Retain Position

UP NEXT

Myanmar’s Ousted Leader Suu Kyi Moved From Prison to House Arrest Due to Heat, Military Says

Unlocking the Secrets to Fresno State’s Superb Baseball Season

5 hours ago

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

5 hours ago

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

6 hours ago

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

7 hours ago

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

7 hours ago

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

8 hours ago

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How High Will the Price of Gold & Silver Go?

Video /

9 hours ago

How 4/20 Grew From Humble Roots to Marijuana’s High Holiday

10 hours ago

Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs on Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

10 hours ago

Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside Trump Hush Money Trial Court

NEW YORK — Police officials said they were reviewing whether to restrict access to a public park outside the courthouse where former Preside...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside Trump Hush Money Trial Court

3 hours ago

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Are So Unreliable They’re a Meme. They Might Also Be a Climate Solution.

4 hours ago

Real Estate Experts Talk Fresno’s Economic Future. Are Tough Times Ahead?

5 hours ago

Unlocking the Secrets to Fresno State’s Superb Baseball Season

5 hours ago

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

6 hours ago

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

7 hours ago

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

7 hours ago

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend