Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - October 14, 2005
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
"Martin has a real challenge to get this structure to function," said David A. Catania (I-At-large), who is gay. "The average tenure of a HAA director is 20, 25 minutes."
Much of the hearing focused on the Inspector General's audit, issued in June, on HAA's problems, including its failure to complete the required number of site visits to AIDS services providers receiving HAA grants.
Most troubling, according to the audit, was that agencies that could bill Medicaid were going to HAA first because HAA didn't identify all providers that are Medicaid eligible, said Catania. Because of this the District lost $1.1 million that could have been spent on HAA programs, according to the audit.
"These are all infinitely solvable," Catania said. "A hard problem is not having enough money. That's not our problem."
Martin told the Council that her top priorities would be to create a continuum of care. She specifically addressed the need for the city to tackle the finding by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention that, in five cities surveyed, 46 percent of black gay men are infected with HIV or AIDS. She also suggested changing HAA's name to the Administration for HIV/AIDS Policy & Programs.
"We want to make the District's response to HIV a model for the nation," she said.
Councilmembers noted the efforts already made by Department of Health director Gregg Pane and Martin, including the hiring of 10 new officials at HAA and the success of a new reimbursement plan for AIDS service providers. There are still 24 vacant positions at HAA, Martin told the Council.
Catania pledged that he would help to remove any obstacles posed by other governmental agencies, specifically the procurement and personnel departments.
But some changes are not occurring quickly enough, according to Councilmember Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7). He lashed out at the agency's slow progress on the Ward 7 Initiative - a $500,000 program to help the city's poorest residents receive HIV and AIDS care.
"There's no consultant identified. There's no specificity as to how the money is to be allocated," Gray said. "There have been no efforts made on an evaluation method. Is that accurate?"
"Yes, sir," Martin said.
"This brings new meaning to the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly," Gray said. "I'm actually stunned. We've been having this conversation since mid-July."
While much of the meeting focused on HAA's structure and past problems, Catania spoke of the importance of HIV and AIDS prevention in D.C. prisons and public schools. Catania said it might be necessary to change the D.C. prison policy to require inmates to opt out of testing for HIV, rather than the current policy requiring inmates to opt in.
Martin said she was meeting with the school health task force to discuss HIV education. When asked by the Blade to elaborate on HAA's plans to address problems in D.C. schools, prisons and the city's needle exchange programs, Martin angrily refused to answer. Earlier in the week, Martin had said that needle exchange and availability of condoms are critical to fighting AIDS but she has not responded to Blade inquiries to discuss her plans for HAA.
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