1. Mark Zuckerberg donated $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital, the city's public safety-net hospital. The cofounder, chairman and CEO of Facebook did this in 2015. The hospital was subsequently renamed Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
2. Recently, some of the hospital's billing practices have been noted as problematic. Vox reviewed emergency room bills to find the hospital is considered "out-of-network" for patients with private insurance, which can leave people with large bills.
3. Mr. Zuckerberg was a charitable donor to the hospital. Although the hospital was renamed for him and his wife Priscilla, he has no impact on its daily operations.
4. Nevertheless, I think as the hospital takes some hits in the news, the media and public can conflate the hospital's billing issues with Mark Zuckerberg, even though he probably deserves nothing but credit for his donation. I also think many people probably enjoy citing the name and taking shots at Mark Zuckerberg.
5. Or, as one writer for the Columbia Journalism Review tweeted: "I get that this is bad, but just because Zuckerberg's name is on the hospital doesn't mean he decided to screw all those sick people personally. That's like blaming AT&T because a sports team did something dumb in their stadium."
6. Is this the price of fame and the challenge of putting your name on a donation? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to write me at sbecker@beckershealthcare.com.