McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA)

MENA members speak out on Mercy proposal

Feb 10, 2006

The following are excerpts from letters sent to MENA in response to a poll taken in September 2005. Permission was granted to print their views and reflect only those of the author. The poll questions were sent to 635 East Sacramento residents and businesses in two forms, newsletter and flyer, and MENA received only 22 responses.

Mercy Hospital not a good neighbor in East Sac

I'm opposed to the expansion of Mercy hospital as proposed.
Simply put, I believe the proposal is just too damn much to ask residents of East Sacramento to accept, particularly when the project could be located at other Mercy hospital sites in the Sacramento area where there's more space for it and fewer households would be adversely affected.
The information I've received from people who've gone through the several previous expansions of and at the 39th & J campus, is that Mercy wasn't a "good neighbor" then, i.e., didn't do what it said it would to mitigate the impacts of those expansions, and that was even before Mercy's management was taken over by the "suits" at CHW, a billion-dollar concern.
Now, we're talking corporate, bottom-line dollar, decision-making in San Francisco - not the good nuns of the Sisters of Charity trying to help people in Sacramento stay alive - and its greater concern for the convenience of a hand-full doctors than for quality of life in East Sacramento which includes the operation of Sacred Heart School.
Michael Greene
MENA Member

Mercy has been in East Sac longer than most
I have lived in my home on 43rd Street for 45 years. I have seen many changes in the area. Yes, there is more traffic!! But much of it is local. Years ago each family had one car, the children walked or biked to school (now mom drives them).
Recently I have heard things said against Mercy that definitely are not true. I would like to set the record straight as a matter of fairness. The proposed new building is not an expansion. The total number of beds will not be increased. The new building is necessary to house important new equipment and to replace beds in existing buildings which do not now meet earthquake standards.
Mercy Hospital has been in this neighborhood longer than any of us.
They have tried to be a good neighbor (and our property values certainly have not been damaged by the hospital). I have worked with the Sisters when I served on the City Planning Commission, on the East Sac Improvement Association Board, and the Hospital Board of Trustees. Health care is a very competitive business. If they are driven out of the area, think of what might be built on that land.
Nadya O. Andrews
MENA Member

Old buildings for office space will increase traffic
Mercy is presenting this project to the neighborhood by stating that they are actually slightly reducing the number of beds with the expansion. But my key concern is that while this may be true, they are approximately doubling their total square feet. In effect, the hospital space will not have increased square footage but the impact will be like adding a 5-story office building in the middle of the neighborhood! If this space is used for administrative offices there will be a tremendous increase in daily commute traffic and parking requirements. Use of the space for medical offices would be the worst case each office will generate numerous car trips through the neighborhood. With 39th, H and J streets already rated at the city?’s highest level of service, I believe this will have a huge impact on our traffic situation in East Sac.
I believe Mercy should have the right to replace an aging facility and be able to build a 21st century facility. A new facility with the same number of beds will not likely create additional impacts all by itself. But they should revisit their plans in regard to tearing down that extra square footage which is what really will create havoc in the neighborhood.
Cecily Hastings
MENA board member