San Francisco – On July 8, the See Yip Merchants Association announced the gift of the building at 769 Commercial Street along with all its assets—estimated to be about $1 million—to the San Francisco Chinese Hospital’s capital campaign.
The capital campaign is to support the $160 million project to build a replacement facility for the iconic, but aging, facility at 845 Jackson Street in San Francisco’s historic Chinatown. Undoubtedly, this is the Hospital’s biggest construction and renovation project in its 100 years’ history.
The handover ceremony took place at the steps of the Chinese Hospital office building and was followed by a panel discussion headed by Chinese Hospital Board President James K. Ho and Chinese Hospital fundraising chair Rose Pak, and members of the See Yip Chinese Merchants Association.
Panel members vocalized their support for the renovation project and said their main qualm with the current building is that there are only 54 beds—not enough for the ever expanding Chinese community in the City.
The new plan hopes to remedy this. A new six-floor structure complete with 76 beds and a new MRI room is to be built on the site of the current hospital office building. Administrative offices will then move into the current Chinese Hospital building next door. Space will nearly double from 73,000 square feet to 141,000 square feet. The whole venture is estimated to cost about $160 million, $25 million of which is expected to be footed by fundraising.
Pak was optimistic about the outlook of the project, and recalled the hard work the Chinese community put in to build the current hospital.
“About a hundred years ago when we [the Chinese community] were discriminated against, when our forefathers were still laborers, we still had the foresight to do it,” she said. “Now, with all the new economics and technology today, I am very hopeful we will be successful.”
Founded in 1925, the San Francisco Chinese Hospital was established for the elderly and poor Chinese immigrants in The City, as well as an alternative to San Francisco General Hospital for patients who could not speak English. The current building opened in 1979 and replaced what is now the current office building.
Groundbreaking for the new hospital is expected to take place later this year, with completion set for 2013. For more information or to donate visit www.chinesehospital-sf.org.
