Supervisors Rebuff Pleas From AIDS Clinic for Funds

Despite the presence of 300 sometimes angry protesters, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday refused to bail out the San Fernando Valley’s largest AIDS clinic, and instead chastised the foundation that runs the clinic for alleged fiscal mismanagement.

The nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the county’s largest providers for AIDS patients, came to the supervisors seeking $1.2 million to keep its Sherman Oaks facility open. It is the Valley’s only AIDS clinic that is opens five days a week. The clinic serves about 500 clients, most of them Medi-Cal recipients.

But instead of expressing sympathy, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told a board meeting packed with supporters of the foundation that the group had simply overspent its allotment of funds and should not expect the cash-strapped county to come to its rescue.

“Since we are issuing the checks, we expect certain rules are going to be met, like you don’t overspend, and then hold communities like . . . the San Fernando Valley hostage,” Yaroslavsky said.

Instead, Yaroslavsky asked for--and the board unanimously approved--a motion authorizing a study of the financial stability and management of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, contingency plans for the maintenance of AIDS services in the Valley if the Sherman Oaks clinic is closed and the implementation of a fee-for-service reimbursement policy for AIDS program providers countywide.

“I want you to understand that what I am not asking for is for you to bail out AIDS Healthcare Foundation,” Yaroslavsky told the rest of the board. “I am very troubled by any organization that overspends their budget and thinks they can come back and get more funding at a hearing like this.”

Members of the foundation acknowledge overspending, in part because the price of AIDS drug treatments is high.

Foundation President Michael Weinstein has said the group considers it immoral to turn away anyone in need and contends that the foundation is not reimbursed for all of the patients it serves. Although he brushed aside questions about the foundation’s management, he said he would open his books to county auditors if necessary.

“We’ve been in existence for nine years,” he said. “We are not an irresponsible fly-by-night organization. But we are also not going to throw people out of the lifeboat.”