Bay Area Reporter - September 28, 2000
Terry Beswick

Katz's move was part of yet another reshuffling of his department as he struggles to contend with mounting evidence of a resurgence in HIV transmissions among gay and bisexual men in the city. Katz has released an "11-point action plan" that he hopes will help to stem the tide of new infections by encouraging HIV-positive top men to use condoms when engaging in anal intercourse with HIV-negative bottoms.

On September 14, the city's HIV Prevention Planning Council distanced itself from Katz's plan, deleting references to it from a DPH-drafted "letter of concurrence" to the city's annual application for $10 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Members of the HPPC were concerned that the letter implied that they had reviewed the 11-point plan, and voted to remove all references to it after a brief debate.

"It's not the San Francisco HIV Prevention Plan. It's Mitch Katz's call to action," said Steven Tierney, DPH director of prevention and HPPC co-chair, before the vote. "It's been sent to us to consider in our deliberations."

Tierney said Katz would attend the next HPPC meeting to discuss his action plan in greater detail.

While retaining his current title of deputy director of health, Loyce will also assume the new title of director of the DPH AIDS office, a position Katz held previously under former DPH Director Sandra Hernandez, and then abolished when he was appointed to replace her by Mayor Willie Brown. In a reorganization of the department, Katz had split the AIDS office into two, with the offices reporting to other deputies.

Now Katz has changed his mind, apparently deciding it's better to have one AIDS office after all.

"Increasingly, we have recognized the importance of providing HIV prevention services for HIV-positive people," Katz said in a statement.

"We have also recognized the importance of providing health services, such as substance treatment and mental health, to persons who are HIV-negative so that they can stay negative.

"Given this, our separation of HIV/AIDS into [the two] separate divisions of Health Services and [of] Prevention is no longer appropriate. Also with so many reports of increasing episodes of unsafe sexual behavior I felt it was crucial for the department to have greater focus around HIV/AIDS issues. I can't imagine anyone who can better provide that focus than Jimmy Loyce."

Loyce served as associate director of the former AIDS office from 1991 to 1994, when he left the department to serve as executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles. He returned to the DPH fold in 1998, and has worked since then on issues such as aging and school health.

"Dr. Katz has presented me with an opportunity and a challenge as the department redefines its response to the changing HIV/AIDS pandemic," Loyce commented in the DPH statement.

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