INDIANA: Services Suffer after Agency ‘Mismanaged’ Funding
AIDServe Indiana may have "mismanaged hundreds of thousands
of dollars," resulting in service cutbacks for doctors and
pharmacies and problems at other state agencies, the AP/Indiana
Messenger-Inquirer reports. After "numerous
complaints" about the not-for-profit agency, which serves 800
people with an annual operating budget of $5 million, the state
Department of Health, AIDServe's "main source" of funding,
investigated and found that the agency provided services without
adequate reimbursement under an unapproved budget, used funding
earmarked for patient care to pay for other expenses and did not
properly keep records. Michael Butler of the Department of
Health said that AIDServe's resources may have been stretched
following HIV treatment advances. "Suddenly, we had these
wonderful new drugs ... that helped people living with HIV. We
were no longer looking at helping a person die with dignity. We
were sustaining people on medical service programs with no
foreseeable end in sight," he said. AIDServe board member Robert
Garcia said, "We've had people underneath a bridge, sleeping.
It's not their fault, but they have to live with the stress,
anxiety and strain. It's not good for their immune systems." He
added, "It's a mess. I don't see anything happening to resolve
it in the near future. We'd be fortunate to make it to the end
of the year." Tammy Morris, executive director for the Aliveness Project, said that
many doctors, dentists and pharmacists are unwilling to work for
free. "We have lost many providers because of this, which means
clients do not receive services, and it is really hard to develop
trust with new providers," Morris said. But AIDServe President
Mark St. John said that the "situation is improving," and may be
"back to normal by January" as the Department of Health is paying
for services directly and an auditor is developing a new
record-keeping system. Butler said that the state will not
reimburse AIDServe until all proper documents are received, a
necessity to determine "valid expenses" (AP/Indiana
Messenger-Inquirer, 10/16).
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