The meeting was called ostensibly to investigate whether the Coastside wanted to join the Sequoia Healthcare District, a special taxation district operating on the Peninsula. Conceivably, annexation into the district could provide a steady stream of local funding for Coastside clinics that could fill the region's vacuum left by the closure of the Coastside Family Medical Center in March.
But that idea, first proposed by district President Don Horsley, would likely require a difficult parcel tax measure and years of planning.
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“We shouldn’t fool anybody. The most likely way to do this is a parcel tax,” Horsley said. “You’re pretty much guaranteed through the LAFCo process that the parcel tax money will go back to your community.”
Horsley estimated a parcel tax would need to draw around $60 from every parcel from Pescadero up to Montara, raising more than $1 million for Sequoia Healthcare District. If the process was approved by voters, Horsley said, the Coastside would likely gain two seats on the healthcare district board.
An audience of Coastsiders remained skeptical of the annexation.
Coastside resident Steve Yelick wondered aloud whether the annexation idea was best way to secure new local health care.
“Even if everything went smooth as butter, we’d still be waiting two to three years,” he said.
Horsley and other board members insisted they couldn’t legally subsidize Coastside health care until the region became part of its district.
Horsley said his health care district was unable to help with the problems surrounding the lack of access to patients’ records — an issue that is currently being determined in bankruptcy court.
Sequioa CEO Lee Michelson said he would investigate other ways to help, such as providing loans or funding transportation to hospitals on the Bayside. Michelson said he’d also analyze whether a sales tax would be possible — an idea that might play better with voters.
The Coastside currently lacks local doctors and clinics to serve its own population, especially the large uninsured population. Cheryl Sinclair, manager of community outreach for Seton Medical Center Coastside, said her organization and the RotaCare clinic are overcrowded and are frequently being used by patients with chronic conditions who really need ongoing care.
“We’re seeing some people coming from emergency care or with chronic conditions,” Sinclair said. “We have a desperate need for an urgent-care clinic.”
Sequoia board members said they would host another meeting sometime in the coming weeks to follow up the public input.
Coastside resident Steve Yelick wondered aloud whether the annexation idea was best way to secure new local health care.
“Even if everything went smooth as butter, we’d still be waiting two to three years,” he said.
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