[peanut gallery]

Finally, some good news. From The Examiner:

CPMC on verge of closing deal for $1.9B hospital
By: Dan Schreiber | 11/23/11 5:00 PM
SF Examiner Staff Writer

After nearly seven years of wrangling between San Francisco and the California Pacific Medical Center, a basic agreement for a massive new hospital in The City appears to be only weeks away.

CPMC spokesman Kevin McCormack said he expects a deal to be reached in the next two weeks — and at least by the end of the year — for the remaining “tiny details” to be settled on a $1.9 billion, 555-bed facility on Cathedral Hill. The hospital plan itself would have to go through The City’s Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.

McCormack, who declined to reveal more details, said he is cautiously hopeful, mentioning a news story from 2004 that said CPMC “hopes to break ground” on the hospital by 2006.

“But we’re optimistic,” McCormack said. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been.”

Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee, echoed the sentiment.

“There is good progress being made and it’s going in a positive direction,” Falvey said.

Sounds like they've pretty much come to an agreement on the shakedown CPMC will have to pay the city.