S.F. AIDS patients needs last, DPH coffers first

Aug. 6

Dear friends:

Here, in a nutshell, is why I think AIDS Inc in San Francisco is more dedicated to high salaries for administrators than meeting the needs of AIDS patients.

Minutes from a recent federal Ryan White CARE Act meeting show that an AIDS patient who has been on the waiting list for a rental subsidy since 1996, went to the CARE Act council to ask for help. As per their custom whenever patients show up at the meetings and demand to know why they can't get rental subsidies, after seven years of being on list, one of the council members agreed to meet with the patient, AFTER the meeting. Ever so helpful, that CARE Act council.

The minutes from a committee of the SF Health Commission state that there is so much money left over in CARE Act funding that the city will ask the federal government to allow them to carry over the funds into the next year. I'd hate to think that the commission and council will ever want to take that money and get it to the patient who showed up at the recent council meeting to ask for such help.

So how much, exactly, was left over from last years CARE Act allocation to the city? According to one longtime observer of the council, $1.68 million is the amount. And the AIDS patient who went to the CARE Act council can expect another year on the waiting list for a small housing subsidy, because none of that left over money will help him or other patients.

It is more important that DPH keep its AIDS bank accounts full of cash. The direct, daily, sometimes dire needs of AIDS patients is of little concern to the DPH and AIDS Inc. Whatever became of the ideal in SF of meeting patient needs first, bureaucratic wants last?

Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA

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http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/Meetings/HIVHlthSvcsPlan/Minutes/HIVHlthSvcsPlanM2002/

HIVHlthSvcsPlanCounM20020708.html


HIV HEALTH SERVICES PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING
Meeting Date: July 8, 2002
Meeting Place: 25 Van Ness Ave., Rm. 330A
Meeting Time: 4:30pm - 7:30pm

[snip]

Lee Green, a consumer, is frustrated that he has been on the Housing list
since 1996. Margot Antonetty offered to discuss the matter further with him
following the meeting.

- - -

http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/Meetings/PHP/Minutes/JCCPHPM062502.htm

San Francisco Department of Public Health
MINUTES
JOINT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEETING FOR POPULATION HEALTH AND PREVENTION
Tuesday, June 25, 2002, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
AIDS PROGRAMS OFFICE

[snip]
Mr. Loyce added that his staff is performing analysis of unspent FY 2001-02
CARE dollars. He thinks they will have a significant amount of carry-forward
funds, which will allow them to fill the hole that exists due to the reduced
HRSA allocation. Need approval from HRSA to carry forward. This will be
allocated according to priorities established by the CARE Council, and
looking at agencies that were cut.

- - -

[excerpted from an email from AIDS accountability activist Patrick Monette-Shaw]

Because the public comment period was limited to two minutes, on July 22 I did not have time to include a third instance of willful censorship of the Council's minutes. Only July 8, Long Dixon also reported that the council had $1.68 million in unobligated, unspent funds from FY '01-'02 that it now wants to "carry over" to the FY '02-'03 fiscal year which began in March 2002. Notably, and first, in another move to keep the public unaware of Council business, both the draft version and the final version of the July 8 minutes posted to the Internet fail to report, by omitting, that the unspent funds totaled a whopping $1.68 million. This not-insignificant amount is important news, and it should not have been eliminated from the minutes.