Health center for
low-income HIVers stays open

A clinic that provides free and sliding-scale comprehensive care to about 580 mostly low-income, under- and uninsured HIV patients in San Francisco has managed to get funding that will allow it to avoid closure at least through June. St. Mary Medical Center's Sister Mary Philippa Health Center has secured a city funding agreement, center and city officials told the Bay Area Reporter.

Last year, SMPHC, a Sisters of Mercy mission, learned it would not receive its usual Ryan White CARE funding through the city Department of Public Health, despite "commendable" ratings from DPH's AIDS office. The center could not reach target populations, including prisoners, that were in need of CARE funding, said Barry Lawlor, SMPHC's director of community services.

However, in December the clinic learned the city would fund four months of its CARE budget through February. After that, the city has verbally committed to provide an unspecified amount of general fund money, said Ernest Somers, SMPHC's program coordinator. (Advocate.com)