Medic on Wheels: From Hospital to Clinic to Office, Kurtis Opp Bikes Everyday As Much As He Can

Kurtis Opp leaving CPMC/Davies for next stop

Convenient, secure parking at CPMC Davies Medical Center

Kurtis Opp has been part of the local medical community for 20 years, since 1991, and the last dozen of those he's relied on his bike to get around town. He lives in the Mission and bikes via the Wiggle and the Panhandle to St. Mary's Hospital on Stanyan street. Four days a week he bikes "six to nine minutes" from his home to Davies Medical Center at Duboce and Castro. Add his office hours at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center and working with colleagues at other clinics and Opp logs a lot of miles every week on two wheels.

“I bike everyday as much as I can," Opp explained from his dermatology office at Davies. He even finds time to bike to workout sessions at Bush and Van Ness. For him, biking is part of a healthy life. But it's also the best way for him to keep a busy schedule without worrying about slow traffic and parking hassles.

Opp is a San Francisco native who attended SF State and then graduated from Stanford University's Physician Assistant program. His first medical job was in cardiac surgery followed by urgent care in an Emergency Room setting. In 1993 he started working with a pioneer of HIV/AIDS care, Marcus Conant, MD, who began one of the first HIV- related clinics in the country at UCSF. Opp has been heavily involved in HIV work since then. He took a position at Davies Medical Center as a PA-C in 2003 with a focus on medical dermatology. "HIV dermatology is my specialty with skin cancers and HIV cancers," Opp said. His Davies practice also includes cosmetic dermatology. In addition, Opp works as the HIV dermatologist at St. Mary's Hospital, takes appointments at Mission Neighborhood Health Center, and treats people with HIV seeking liposuction injections.

Opp sees bicyclists with injuries all too often. "Most have been seen in an ER somewhere first, but then they seek follow-up care. It happens every five to six weeks." Many of his patients report injuries due to getting doored or from slipping on Muni tracks. On his daily rides, Opp said he is annoyed with the frequency of motorists blocking his way. "I would like to see more police enforcement of double parking in the bike lanes.”

Not many of Opp's colleagues at the Davies office building ride, but he noted that the bike racks at the medical center are usually full. His own biking passion has taken him on four AIDS rides from San Francisco to Los Angeles and another from Fairbanks to Anchorage. He learned to keep his bike helmet on at all times while riding. "Wearing helmets and safe biking was ingrained in us on those rides. Now I don't leave anywhere without a helmet and my high visibility jacket." Or his matching pink and orange pig on his handlebar.

California Pacific Adds More Bike Racks at Davies Campus, Recognizes Biking as Better Option for Transportation and Health

Five new bike racks (foreground) at Davies Campus bike-friendly garage

Responding to requests, CPMC/Davies increases number of racks to 18

Bicyclists who want to ride to their jobs, doctor's appointments, or outpatient sessions at the Davies Campus of the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) will find bike parking even more plentiful with an additional five new bike racks. CPMC recently increased the number of racks from 13 to 18 at the Duboce and Castro streets campus after cyclists reported an increase in demand. Each rack can accommodate two bikes.

Kevin McCormack, CPMC Media Relations Manager, wrote to BIKE NOPA that encouraging bicycling was a natural choice for the institution.

As a hospital one of our priorities is promoting healthy lifestyles. With improved bike lanes nearby, we realize that cycling is clearly becoming a better option for transportation and for maintaining good health for more and more people in San Francisco. Thanks to BIKE NOPA and others, we realized that one easy way to make it easier for people to cycle to our campus was simply to install more bike racks.

Located along the #24 bus route and near the N Judah streetcar line, the Davies Campus has one of the highest rates of public and alternative transportation use of any business in San Francisco, according to McCormack. Bicyclists find ideal parking accommodations at the medical complex: easy-to-find racks just inside the parking garage, protection from rain, and security with a garage attendant a few steps away.

The addition of new racks represents the second time in 14 months that CPMC has increased bike parking. In November of 2009 administrators authorized a set of five racks after a story posted here a few months earlier. At that time a hospital representative wrote, "Thanks for being a squeaky wheel."

Install Bike Parking and They Will Come: CPMC Davies At Max With Year-Old Racks

CPMC Davies bike parking today: 13 racks

Room for expansion: space for another five or ten racks empty and waiting

Install bike racks in San Francisco and they will be used. So many more people are taking to the streets on two wheels that bike parking fills up fast. The Davies Campus of the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) is finding its modest five-rack expansion a year ago is hardly adequate to the demand. In November of 2009 the Davies Engineering Department installed an additional five bike racks at its covered bike station, and now the racks are full, or nearly so, on a regular basis. Fortunately, expanding the facility will be easy with available space adjacent to the current parking.

Last year BIKE NOPA congratulated CPMC Davies for responding to cyclists' requests for more parking with the additional racks. Medical center administrators said at the time they recognized the advantages of providing the extra accommodation. Increasing numbers of staff bicycled to work, and many of the center's outpatient population rode bikes to appointments. The advantages of increased bike parking were pretty clear at the time. In addition to the convenience for staff and clients, hospital directors wanted to keep bikes out of the building for all sorts of other reasons, from reduced liability to safer passage in the hallways. Medical personnel expressed concern about bikes possibly carrying germs on their surfaces. And the benefits of biking fit the health promotion and disease prevention messages of the institution.

Bring on the extra rows of racks, for the near term. An additional five inverted-U racks easily fit along last year's addition for an immediate improvement to the bike parking crunch. And the space accommodates ten racks if the short-term vehicle parking is moved elsewhere. But CPMC wants to enhance the Davies Campus with a new four-story Neuroscience Institute and a new parking garage. Long-range planning should anticipate a steady increase in the number of staff and patients bicycling to the center and provide facilities for them.

The five new racks installed a year ago