Petrelis Files

Historic DPH Meeting on Obamacare Will Be Live Streamed Today

As well as I can determine, the San Francisco health commission has never televised or live streamed one of their meetings, so the meeting this afternoon, Tuesday, Feb. 18, that starts at 4 pm, will be historic because it's the first time a commission meeting will be aired on the web.

On the agenda today are three resolutions about implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the ripple effect it is having on Healthy San Francisco and charity care in the City. As if it weren't enough for the commission to contend with Obamacare, also on the agenda are the 2013 annual report and proposed 2014 - 2016 budget.

You would think with all these crucial items to discuss and their impact on thousands of San Francisco residents and City coffers, that the DPH leaders would ensure community engagement via SFGovTV and the City's various social media platforms. Yet, with a $1.6 billion budget DPH has no plans to televise or stream the meeting. Essentially, DPH tells members of the public if you can't attend the meeting but want to watch how the commissioners deal with these issues, tough luck.

Well, thanks to the tech skills and equipment of Punk Boy in SF, the meeting will be live streamed later today. Go to his page here, http://www.ustream.tv/occupysf , starting at 4 pm to watch and listen, and after the commission meeting you can find it archived for viewing later on.

It's time for DPH to stop resisting using technology to better engage and inform the many San Francisco citizens they serve. Now is also the time for the Board of Supervisors to pressure the DPH to move their meetings from 101 Grove Street across the street to City Hall, where there are many rooms equipped to air their meetings.

Sunshine in the form of televising and streaming DPH hearings is a requirement for good public health.