Health care and the role of Health Care Districts has evolved greatly since the late 1940s. But two institutions in San Mateo County have maintained remarkably unchanged missions through the years. Now, some are questioning what their role should be.
Both the Sequoia Healthcare District and the Peninsula Healthcare District were at one point responsible for overseeing hospital operations, and supporting hospital-based health care through taxes and an elected board of directors. Now, neither district oversees a hospital. Never the less, they continue to collect millions of tax dollars ever year. That money is issued to community groups through grants, which provide some services to residents.
So some are wondering if the presence of the health care districts is a duplication of services in San Mateo, where the county pays for indigent health care in addition to the community grants of the Districts.
From the San Mateo Daily Journal:
For years, there have been small circles of discussion about the county’s two health care districts and the services they provide since their roles have evolved and they no longer fit the description upon which they were founded. Neither Sequoia Healthcare District nor the Peninsula Health Care District oversee the operations of a hospital, and haven’t for years.
Yet they both collect taxes and have elected boards to determine what the best use of that money is.
Read the full article here.