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HIV/AIDS administration
moves to Houston
By Greg Barr
Published June 12, 2006
in the Daily News
County health administrators are concerned about the long-term implications
of a recent decision by the state to streamline administration services for
HIV/AIDS funding. The state informed the Galveston
County Health District that effective Sept. 1 it would no longer serve as the
administrative agency for HIV/AIDS services in Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda
counties.
As a cost-saving measure because of declining federal funding, the Texas
Department of State Health Services plans to transfer that function to the HIV
Services Resource Group in Houston.
“We have seen a $1.2-million reduction over the past two years in (federal)
funding and have cut costs internally, but we had to look at some consolidation
of administration in order to avoid cuts in direct services to HIV/AIDS
patients,” said Janna Zumbrun, health promotion unit manager with the state’s
HIV/STD comprehensive services branch.
The federal government has reduced funding for primary medical care and support
services for those living with HIV/AIDS in Texas to $18.4 million for fiscal
year 2006-07. The funds are known as Ryan White funds, named after an Indiana
teenager who was barred from his school after acquiring HIV from a blood
transfusion. He died in 1990.
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, which sets the level
for this funding, is in the process of an overhaul by the federal government in
both the House and Senate. Pending legislation will decide how and where the
funds are allocated from 2008-2011. Advocates for
HIV/AIDS patients are concerned that just maintaining current Ryan White funding
levels will not be enough, considering more than 40,000 new HIV infections are
reported each year.
Zumbrun said a decision was reached in May to cut two of the state’s 10 HIV/AIDS
funding administration agencies, including the Galveston County district and the
East Texas AIDS Resource Center in Longview. The move will save $167,000 in the
fiscal year ending in August 2007. She said the
decision to switch Galveston administration to the larger center was based on
the county’s proximity to Houston. The Houston office could easily handle the
small number of support agency subcontracts transferred from the county health
district, she added.
Kurt Koopman, spokesman for the county health district, wrote to state elected
officials after being informed of the decision, expressing concern about
maintaining the current quality of service in light of the state’s decision.
For the past 12 years, the health district administered the subcontracts to
local agencies that provide housing, dental, medication and health insurance
assistance and case management to county residents living with HIV/AIDS. These
agencies include the AIDS Coalition of Coastal Texas, which manages the cases of
260 people living in Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda counties.
The AIDS Coalition receives the majority of its $800,000 annual operating budget
from federal funding funneled through the state to the county health
district.Federal funding through the county health district for those living
with HIV/AIDS has remained flat since 2003 at about $530,000 a year, Koopman
said. Another $101,931 in direct state funding was received this year. Funding
for HIV prevention programs administered through the county health district is
about $250,000 a year.
Zumbrun said that, at least through August 2007, HIV/AIDS patients in the county
should not notice any change in service.“I can’t tell you that there won’t be
any direct service cuts in the future, depending on what happens (with Ryan
White funding),” said Zumbrun. “But if I was a client with HIV I would not
notice any change after Sept. 1. They’ll still have the same doctor and case
manager.”
For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org |
