UCSF Encourages Community to Support Proposal to Ensure Patient Safety in Warriors Arena Plan
WinWinSF Campaign Calls for Safe, Timely Access to Mission Bay Hospitals
UC San Francisco supports the City’s plan to build a new arena for the Golden State Warriors, but only if traffic concerns are adequately addressed to ensure that patients, visitors and health care providers can safely and efficiently access UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay.
The University announced its position Monday and submitted its comments on the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Warriors arena project, which would be located diagonally from the UCSF Mission Bay hospitals.
“I know I speak for many at UCSF when I say that I am excited about the prospect of the Warriors moving into the Mission Bay neighborhood,” UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS, said in an email message to the campus community on Monday. “I also know I speak for many when I say that our support must be contingent on adequately addressing traffic concerns to ensure patient safety and access to our Mission Bay hospitals.”
Support the Win-Win Plan
Learn more about the challenges and opportunities presented by the prpposed Warriors arena project and show your support for a “Win-Win” approach that brings the Warriors to San Francisco and ensures patient safety.
To educate the community about its position, UCSF has launched the WinWinSF campaign, where people can sign an online petition to support a win-win approach that allows safe and timely access to UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay.
Hawgood reported that there has been progress in negotiations among the University, the City of San Francisco and the Warriors, resulting in the development of a variety of traffic mitigation measures.
But UCSF’s concerns over potential traffic on days when both AT&T Park and the proposed Warriors arena have large, dual or overlapping events remain to be addressed, he said. These “dual event” days could bring an estimated 60,000 people to the Mission Bay neighborhood.
UCSF is proposing a ‘trigger’ mechanism that would allow the City to step in if traffic mitigation measures prove unsuccessful and manage the scheduling of future dual events. “I am confident that this safeguard, which would empower the City, would address our concern,” Hawgood said in his email message.
This trigger mechanism ultimately would safeguard access for thousands of patients, as well as the 1,500 health care workers who change shifts each day at 7 p.m., which is often peak time for arena events.
“It is important to me that you know UCSF’s position on this project and that you know we are working hard to secure a win-win solution,” Hawgood said.
Read the full campus message from Chancellor Hawgood »
For more campus news and resources, visit Pulse of UCSF.