Bay Area communities are sounding the alarm over a shortage of first responders, from nurses to dispatchers to paramedics.
Leaders in Contra Costa County and San Francisco are calling on voters to approve charter amendments to boost staffing.
Supporters say amending San Francisco’s charter would allow hospitals to hire their own nurses to work extra shifts rather than pay traveling nurses.
San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai on Tuesday joined nurses, 911 operators and union leaders outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to push for two changes to the city charter to address the shortages.
One proposed charter amendment would allow San Francisco's Department of Public Health to offer nurses retirement credits as an incentive for filling vacancies, which supervisors say would be a cost savings over hiring traveling nurses.
The other proposed amendment would also roll 911 workers into a better pension to make the job more appealing to applicants.
On Monday, the Contra Costa County fire chief sounded the alarm about a shortage of ambulances and paramedics and limited capacity at local emergency rooms. Chief Lewis Broschard said some patients are waiting as long as an hour to be taken in at John Muir Health in Walnut Creek.
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John Muir Health leaders said in a statement that, though they are experiencing higher demand, they are attending to patients with urgent needs first.
The proposed amendments were set to be filed Tuesday and would appear on the November ballot for voters to decide.
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