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Robin Clewley 

Special to the Daily Planet 

Alta Bates/Summit Medical Center on Ashby Avenue recently conducted an extensive neighborhood phone survey to monitor concerns regarding future expansion and renovation of its facilities. 

But the tone and context of the survey has raised issues with neighborhood participants who said it was biased and manipulative. 

“I was very concerned,” said Lucy Smallsreed, who lives one block from the center. “I’ve had experience designing surveys, and it was quite clear what they wanted to hear.” 

The survey, conducted at the end of December, was a way to get feedback for Alta Bates’ proposed “Master Plan Permit,” a document currently under review which, if approved, will allow the center to move forward with renovations.  

The survey was conducted to “take temperatures of the neighborhood,” said Carolyn Kemp, hospital spokesperson. She also said it was a way to undergo good pre-planning for the possible construction of an additional building and renovation of emergency room facilities. Other potential renovations include refurbishing the lobby and atrium, constructing a new parking garage and creating additional space for administrative needs. 

“We wanted to take in the concerns of the neighborhood,” said Kemp.  

Good intentions or not, some neighborhood participants believe that the questions were phrased in a way to badger them into agreeing to the terms outlined in the hospital’s permit. One survey participant, who wished to remain anonymous, said many of the questions were prefaced with a pro-health bias, but did not address environmental concerns of the neighborhood. Additionally, some of the statements introducing the questions were so long that they “would make your head swim.”  

Smallsreed agreed and said the survey was quite lengthy. She said in addition to the questions pertaining to the permit, some questions were “peculiar.” These included questions which asked her opinion of certain council members and the mayor.  

Over a three-day period, all three people over 18 years old in her household were called. These included herself, her husband and her 19-year old daughter. She does not know where the pollster found her family information.  

Smallsreed said it was difficult to get a straight answer from the interviewer as to the intention of the survey, and which organization was behind the survey. 

Kemp said the survey was conducted by Berkeley-based Evans McDonough, a public opinion polling organization.  

The survey is only the latest issue in the 30-year conflict between the hospital and its neighbors. 

In 1971, the hospital won a city use permit to construct a $17 million building on Ashby Avenue. In return, it promised to demolish an existing building and leave substantial remaining open space. Four years later, the older building was never demolished, and the center began lobbying for additional space to be created, neighbors said.  

In hopes of governing hospital growth, the Hospital-Neighborhood Agreement was signed in 1983. But that did not put an end to friction between the hospital and its neighbors, according to Marty Barclay, president of the neighborhood association. 

In 1997, the city won a lawsuit against the hospital after it learned that Alta Bates was undertaking renovations without appropriate permits.  

Kemp, on the other hand, says the hospital now has a good working relationship with the neighborhood association.  

The center believes that it has every right to renovate its emergency department. “It’s not a secret at all that we need more space in our emergency room,” said Kemp. “When it was built in the early ’70s, it had room for 12,000 patients. Now we’re up to 45,000.” 

Deborah Pitts, public affairs manager for the Alta Bates said the emergency department renovation is a “necessity,” and would not increase traffic or parking in the neighborhood.  

Kemp said according to Berkeley permit rules, the center must outline all possible future renovations in the document, even if the renovations are years down the line. These include the possible renovations for the atrium and lobby, parking lot construction and expansion of administrative offices.  

Permit rules aside, neighborhood residents are skeptical of the center’s motives due to the long history of strife between the parties.  

Smallsreed, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1975, said the survey cemented that skepticism. “It (the survey) was not a neutral or scientific tool,” she said. “It was a marketing tool.”