At the height of the COVID-19 surges, hospitals were overwhelmed as the number of patients seeking care surpassed bed capacity. A significant bottleneck to hospital discharges in San Francisco was the delay in transferring to post-acute facilities due to the required 10 to 20-day quarantine period and lack of SNF bed availability.

There is a severe shortage of licensed SNF beds even as demand for SNF beds is increasing. Since 2001, the number of licensed SNF beds has decreased by 43% in San Francisco.

• Age 65 and older comprises 14% of city population (113,000). By 2030, population projections of 65 and older to comprise 20% of city population (192,000).
• 38% of San Francisco seniors 65 and older and 7% adults aged 18-64 report disabilities (80,000).
• By 2030, San Francisco would need 4,287 licensed SNF beds–an increase nearly 70% over current supply of 2,542 beds.

This CHIP project aimed to develop a SNF program at Chinese Hospital to address the increased demand for SNF beds in San Francisco and to further expand services by creating a SNF-at-Home program by utilizing the latest technology in remote patient monitoring, telehealth and wearables.