SF General's generator emergency - San Francisco Chronicle
They're still waiting - and now comes word that the new generators won't actually be up and running for another three years.
So much for the emergency response.
The crisis first hit back December 2005 when one of the hospital's steam-powered generators - which provide backup electricity to the building around the clock - burned up. Although officials say the main power stayed on and no patients' lives were put at risk, the generator was out of service for several hours.
Soon after, in February 2006, hospital brass asked the city to declare an emergency to allow for the speedy replacement of both generators. Hospital chief executive Gene O'Connell warned that they needed to be switched out promptly "to prevent imminent system failure."
As with so many construction jobs, however, the fix ran smack-on into a bureaucratic wall.
City departments had to be consulted, custom designs had to be drawn up and regulators had to give their blessings.