Washington Blade - January 10, 2008
Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Don Blanchon, who assumed the Clinic's top leadership post in May 2006, said the Clinic has nearly completed its goal of transforming itself into the Washington area's preeminent primary care medical facility for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. At the same time, he said the Clinic has retained its role as the city's largest provider of treatment and support for people with HIV and AIDS.

The changes announced this week also included layoffs of an unspecified number of employees, due in part to the Clinic's plan to outsource some financial functions.

Blanchon said the Clinic has named Dr. Raymond Martins, assistant clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, as its chief medical officer.

Martins most recently worked in private practice in Arlington, Va. He worked from 2004 to 2005 at the Dupont Circle Physicians Group, with a practice in HIV and internal medicine. He has an extensive background in HIV/AIDS care and gay health issues, according to biographical information released by Whitman-Walker. He also has served as chief medical resident at George Washington University Hospital.

Martins joins Whitman-Walker three years after the Clinic announced it was facing a financial crisis. Blanchon, a managed care executive, has been credited with stabilizing its finances and working with the Clinic's board to transition the longstanding gay clinic into a full service, primary care provider.

Blanchon said this week the transition is well under way, with the Clinic seeing a wide range of patients from the gay community, including those with full medical insurance coverage as well as low-income patients who rely on Medicaid and other financial assistance.

Clinic officials have said the Clinic is encouraging gay residents to use its services for all their medical needs, including treatment for non-AIDS related ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

"Like any medical practice, we want people to choose to come here because of the high quality of our doctors and our high-quality medical services," Blanchon said.

He said the Clinic's financial health, while far better than it was two years ago, is being strengthened further through a staff reorganization set to begin this month that includes retaining an outside company to operate its financial management department.

"We need timely and accurate financial information," he said.

Blanchon said the outsourcing of the finance department would result in "some staffing changes," including layoffs.

The Clinic currently has a staff of about 220 and a budget of about $24 million.

He said Whitman-Walker continues to benefit from its recent approval by federal health authorities of its status as a federally qualified health center, which, among other things, enables it to obtain greater reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid for services to low-income patients.

Capital Pride incurs $32,000 deficit

Whitman-Walker's director of development and community relations, ReGina Newkirk, also disclosed financial information this week showing that the 2007 Capital Pride festivities - for which Whitman-Walker served as chief fiscal agent and organizer - would have pulled in a net profit of about $17,000 had the Clinic not been required to pay $50,000 for liability insurance. With the liability insurance included in the mix, the Pride events incurred a deficit of $32,795, the finance data show.

A statement shows Capital Pride generated $167,103 in revenue and incurred $199,898 in expenses. It shows that Whitman-Walker contributed $100,000 and 12 other local gay groups contributed a combined total of $28,000 in upfront money to pay for Pride-related expenses that had to be paid before most of the revenue was generated during the week of the parade and festival. All of the groups were reimbursed for the upfront money, which amounted to loans, along with a modest interest payment ranging from $67 to $772, depending on the size of their upfront contribution, the finance statement shows.

The Clinic's release of a finance statement for Capital Pride marked the first time in recent years that the Clinic has provided an itemized accounting of the revenue and expenses associated with Pride.

The release came during the same week the Clinic issued a request for proposals from other community groups to replace the Clinic as the lead organizer and sponsor of Capital Pride, which includes the city's annual Gay Pride parade and festival in June.

Blanchon said the Clinic will always play some role in Capital Pride, but he said its board has decided that the Clinic's main mission should be limited to providing gay health services and that another community group would be better suited to organize Capital Pride.

At least three groups, including a non-profit corporation associated with Washington's Westminster Presbyterian Church, have submitted proposals to Whitman-Walker to assume the lead role in staging Capital Pride.

Newkirk said the Clinic has set Jan. 25 as the deadline for responding to the Clinic's request for proposals. She said the Clinic would make a decision on whom to select for the Pride takeover by March 14 if at least one of the groups submitting a proposal is found to be qualified.

Real estate deal postponed?

Blanchon said a new opportunity to obtain funding from the D.C. Primary Care Association to expand or replace its Max Robinson Center clinic in Anacostia with a facility in Ward 7 could result in a change or delay in its plans to sell its buildings on 14th Street to a real estate developer.

Shortly before Blanchon started work at the Clinic, officials thereannounced plans to sell the Clinic headquarters building at 14th and S Streets, N.W., along with its Elizabeth Taylor clinic building at 14th and R Streets, and the Max Robinson Center building, in a move to liquidate millions of dollars in real estate assets that greatly appreciated in value over the past decade.

The plans called for entering into a deal with a developer that would enable the Clinic to own or control at least 30,000 square feet of space for a new, state-of-the-art medical facility within a new, high-rise building. The new building was to be located on the site of the Clinic's current headquarters building.

This week, Blanchon said he was reluctant to disclose whether the earlier plans were still in effect or whether his announcement of new plans to collaborate with the D.C. Primary Care Association to make changes associated with the Max Robinson Center would have an impact on the real estate deal with a developer.

"The board is working on plans for the development of the 14th Street properties, and the plan is now taking into consideration the additional factors of the current real estate market and the possible collaboration with the D.C. Primary Care Association," said Clinic spokesperson Chip Lewis on Wednesday.

Blanchon said Whitman-Walker would strive to put in place these additional goals and objectives for 2008:

• An expansion of its HIV education and prevention programs in response to the recent D.C. Department of Health report showing that the city has the nation's highest HIV infection rate.

• To further adopt the Clinic's primary care model to the newly emerging needs of gay clients, including gays who are raising children, the growing population of gay seniors, and gay youth who are considered at risk for HIV.

• More resources for additional gay health issues such as addictionservices, including crystal meth-related services; women's health services, such as breast cancer screening; and greater services to transgender clients.

• Improved collaboration with other HIV service providers in the D.C. area to better coordinate services for HIV treatment and prevention.

• More aggressively ensuring that patients who initially receive an HIV diagnosis return for follow-up care and adherence to medical treatment programs.

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