UCSF Establishes Campuswide Occupational Health Service
Robert Kosnik
July 1. Under the direction of Robert Kosnik, MD, the program will integrate the clinical care services previously provided by the campus Communicable Disease Prevention Program and UCSF Medical Center's Employee Health Services into a single clinical care delivery system named UCSF Occupational Health Service. Clinical services provided by Student Health Services will continue to be a separate source of clinical care specifically for UCSF students and will continue to be directed by Henry Kahn, MD. Locations and hours of operation for UCSF Occupational Health Service are: Main Clinic, Mount Zion campus
2380 Sutter St., 3rd floor (corner of Sutter and Divisadero)
San Francisco, CA 94143
Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tel. 415/885-7580 Satellite Vaccine Clinic, Parnassus campus
350 Parnassus Ave., Suite 206
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 7:30-10:45 a.m., noon-3:30 p.m. Services Provided During the initial transition phase, UCSF Occupational Health Service will continue to provide medical surveillance, pre-placement physicals, respiratory fit-testing clearance, vaccinations and immunizations, and will cover the Needlestick Hotline for UCSF departments and programs that currently receive services from either Employee Health Services or the Communicable Disease Prevention Program. Expanded service coverage to other UCSF groups as well as expanded service locations are to be phased in over time. Environmental Health & Safety The Communicable Disease Prevention Program's services - such as occupational risk assessment, campus infection control, compliance and monitoring - will be consolidated into the Office of Environmental Health & Safety (OEH&S), directed by Robert Eaton. OEH&S will implement occupational risk assessments, campus infection control, epidemiology investigations, education and regulatory monitoring. The integration of these occupational risk assessment and compliance duties will be consistent with other OEH&S programs. Inquiries related to these services can be made to 415/476-1300. Comprehensive Evaluation In fall 2005, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Eugene A. Washington, MD, charged an ad hoc committee of campus and UCSF Medical Center leadership to review and make recommendations about the existing employee health services provided to the UCSF community. The charge included assessing compliance with regulatory mandates, standardizing policies and practices, and looking for opportunities for coordination to improve access, increase efficiency and improve services. The final recommendation to integrate the clinical care services in the Occupational Health Service and to integrate nonclinical services in the Environmental Health & Safety office was recently endorsed by the Chancellor's Executive Committee. Peter Jensen, MD, infectious disease physician at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, notes that there has been a long-held goal of integrating the campus and medical center occupational health services into a coherent program. The SARS outbreak a few years ago and current planning efforts for pandemic flu are reminders that communicable diseases do not recognize UCSF's organizational boundaries. Questions If you have questions about the integrated Occupational Health Service, please contact Susan Garritson at or 415/502-2871.