Dad gets mad at staff for smoking outside San Francisco hospital door

English

Joe Souza is furious that the hospital workers smoke in front of his children and contaminate his neighborhood with cigarette butts.

The father of four says he has walked through the mess almost every day for the past three years.

Souza has lived in Lower Knob Hill for four years and often passes City View Post Acute, a nursing home run by Generations Healthcare.

“They smoke cigarettes in their gowns and then just throw them away,” Souza said of the medical staff.

Souza often passes by the hospital with her two children, Tatum and Romi, aged 7 and 9, when she takes them to martial arts classes.

“My kids are like, ‘Look, they’re all smoking again,'” Souza said.

“I told one doctor, ‘I live in the neighborhood and I have to pass by every day,’” Souza said.

Souza filed several 311 litter complaints and said the hospital needs to find a solution to prevent this from happening in the first place.

“What are they going to do, patrol this area and clean it up every time? This is wrong,” Souza said.

Data from 311 shows nine complaints asking for “spring cleaning” and one claim related to cigarette butts.

An email from the Department of Public Works states that the cigarette butt problem is ubiquitous and that the hospital, like any other business, is responsible for clearing sidewalk trash. The department said fines of up to $1,000 would be charged for violating garbage disposal rules, and that businesses could be ordered to provide ashtrays “if possible.”

“We will contact hospital administrators to remind them of their responsibilities,” public works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said in a statement.

Stolen ashtrays

City View administrator Dolly Bindra said the hospital had tried twice in the past to install ashtrays but had them stolen, adding that the facility could not bolt ashtrays to the sidewalk to prevent theft as it rented the building. Before buying ashtrays for the third time, the hospital wants to make sure they don’t get stolen again.

“We are happy to buy one for the third time. The problem is that they are being stolen,” Bindra said.

The hospital’s only large open space is used to store oxygen tanks, making it difficult to set up a smoking area, said Bindra, who plans to consult with the hospital’s operations manager to explore options.

“We are sensitive to these concerns and want to address them,” Bindra said.

“I think that would be a good idea,” said one hospital worker, who declined to give her name, and threw her still-smoldering cigarette at a tree.

English