Mayor Drew Combs
Vice Mayor Betsy Nash
Councilmember Jen Wolosin
Councilmember Ray Mueller
Councilmember Cecilla Taylor
Dear City Council:
We are writing to you as leaders of an advocacy group of nearly 4,000 citizens who are trying to prevent the permanent closure of the Mack E. Mickelson therapeutic pool. This unique and vital community resource has helped thousands of Peninsula residents recover from injuries, maintain mobility, and relieve chronic pain and suffering through aquatic therapy and rehabilitative water exercise for close to three decades. The Mickelson therapy pool is the only warm water therapy pool now remaining on the Peninsula; it is in fact the only one of its kind to be found anywhere in the Bay Area.
Appallingly, in spite of its significant benefit to the community, Sutter Health has announced that it intends to permanently close this one-of-a-kind, fully accessible therapeutic pool at Mills Health Center in San Mateo.
We have all suffered because of the pandemic that we are living through, but seniors and disabled citizens have been disproportionately affected, physically and mentally, by the lack of access to this therapeutic pool during the past year and a half. They are now devastated by the prospect of permanently losing what has become a lifeline for them. Many have become debilitated—some even bedridden—losing their ability to walk or live independently, and hundreds of senior citizens’ plans to age in place are fading away. Disabled children and adults alike, whose experiences of normal, active living have been taken away, are suffering as well.
We have made several formal attempts to arrange a good-faith meeting with Sutter Health Mills-Peninsula CEO Janet Wagner to discuss alternative ideas for reopening the therapy pool when pandemic restrictions permit. Our requests to this point have been deflected and ignored. Meanwhile, petition signatures have flooded in, and multiple front-page local news stories, op-eds, and letters to the editor have been published. Numerous citizens and pool patrons have also written to CEO Wagner, and spoken during the Public Comment segments of several local government meetings—with heartfelt disappointment and indignation—about the closure of the therapy pool. Board members from two of the local Health Districts have also expressed their disappointment and concern about the closure.
This is not an appeal for public funding. The pool was entirely financed with private donations and we have identified potential private donors to contribute to any costs associated with reopening the pool when pandemic safety concerns permit.
We have only one simple request to ask of you. We feel strongly that letters and/or phone calls of support from local leaders—perhaps a resolution from your council—would go a long way toward persuading CEO Wagner to meet with our leadership team to explore potential solutions. We have realistic alternatives to the announced closure; we only need the opportunity to present them. Here is the contact information for Janet Wagner:
Janet Wagner, CEO Sutter Health Mills-Peninsula
1501 Trousdale Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010
Phone: (650) 696-5400
Email: wagnerj@sutterhealth.org
Older adults aged 55 and over are the fastest-growing demographic group in San Mateo County and represent a large percentage of our voting population. From 2010 to 2030, the number of people over 65 in San Mateo County will have increased 72% and those over 85 will increase 148% (SMCo Aging Model: Better Planning for Tomorrow). As the State of California advises in its Master Plan For Aging, now is the time to be planning for increased services that will be needed by this growing demographic group, not eliminating services as is planned with the closing of the therapy pool at the Mickelson Arthritis and Rehabilitation Center.
Disabled individuals and senior citizens are the primary users of this vital medical service in San Mateo County. We strongly urge you to intervene and do what you can to prevent the closure of this essential facility, which for the many who depend upon it would be a health catastrophe. It is clear that we must make healthcare for our growing population of seniors a top public policy concern.
Director Kimberly Griffin, of the Sequoia Healthcare District, had this to say when asked recently about the closure of the Mickelson pool. “Sutter makes a lot of money from the entire Bay Area…they have been under intense scrutiny and fined ($575 million) by the Attorney General’s office for antitrust activity. They blocked patients from using less expensive providers. They have also been responsible for driving up the cost of health care with predatory negotiations for reimbursement. Quite frankly, they can afford to keep the pool open.”
After hearing Sutter Health Mills-Peninsula CEO Janet Wagner’s presentation about the therapy pool issue at the July 22 public meeting of the Peninsula Health Care District, one Board member summed it up best: “Are we losing our humanity?”
Councilmembers, please use your voices as individuals and as a group to convince Sutter Health management to reverse this unconscionable decision. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding this consequential and urgent community issue.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Raike
(650) 400-8975
lindsay@strivingtogether.care
Glenn Barnhill
(650) 430-9543
bglennbarnhill@gmail.com
Ginnie K. Plato
(650) 346-4466
ginnie@theaquafit.com
Please see our petition, comments and updates at change.org/save-the-mickelson-pool
