San Antonio Express-News Examines Budget Shortfall at San Antonio AIDS Foundation

The San Antonio Express-News on Monday examined the financial constraints the San Antonio AIDS Foundation is facing after learning six weeks ago that its annual budget would be cut by $257,000. The Health and Human Resource and Services Administration's HIV/AIDS Bureau recently announced it plans to cut the annual Ryan White CARE Act grant to Bexar County, Texas, the region that includes San Antonio, by 15%, or $568,000, because it found "serious shortcomings" in the county's grant proposal, the Express-News reports. The foundation's clinic, called SAAF House, can care for up to 36 people at full funding but currently serves 23, and recently turned three patients away. Staff at SAAF since learning of the cuts have searched "in vain" to move six Medicaid-eligible clients to other facilities, according to the Express-News. SAAF now is attempting to "rais[e] funds for its life," including holding a fund-raiser and applying for grants from Bexar County's Health Facilities Fund and other county funds, the Express-News reports (Idell Hamilton, San Antonio Express-News, 4/17).