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For Immediate Release
 January 12, 2006                

WHITMAN-WALKER CLINIC ADOPTS NEW BUSINESS MODEL TO PROVIDE LONG-TERM FINANCIAL STABILITY

Plan Includes Expanded Services, More Open Access to Care

Washington, DC - Whitman-Walker Clinic has adopted a new business model to become less reliant on government grants and private fundraising and more focused on increasing third-party payments, Interim Executive Director Roberta Geidner-Antoniotti said today.

“The Clinic has spent the last six months studying its financial history and the structures of other similar HIV and AIDS service providers,” said Geidner-Antoniotti. “We believe this model will place the Clinic firmly on the road to long-term financial stability and enable us to serve a broader clientele more efficiently and effectively.”

Whitman-Walker Clinic’s board of directors approved the new business model at its meeting in October. In December, the board passed a 2006 operating budget that includes $25.6 million in revenues and $25.5 million in expenses, which comprises revenue increases based on the change in the business model.

“The Clinic’s financial state is quite good at the moment,” Geidner-Antoniotti said. “Our government funders have begun to reimburse us for services in a more timely manner and we are confident that we can implement this new business model rapidly.”

Hallmarks of the new business model include:

  • increasing the share of Clinic revenues that come from private and public insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare;
  • expanding the number of contracts the Clinic has with major health plans;
  • broadening the services offered by the Clinic to include primary care;
  • enhancing the client experience by streamlining the access process and offering more services at times convenient for clients.

“While the clinic already bills Medicaid and Medicare, we know we have clients who are eligible for this assistance but need our help to apply,” said Geidner-Antoniotti. “In addition, patients with private insurance are always welcome. And Whitman-Walker Clinic will continue to offer discounted care for people without insurance who are also not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare assistance.

“ We are absolutely committed to treating people who need our services without regard to their ability to pay, their insurance status or their eligibility for public assistance.”

Geidner-Antoniotti stressed that Whitman-Walker Clinic will have the same mission and vision – to provide high-quality, culturally competent care to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

“If anything, this new model will enable us to better serve these constituencies by opening our services to their families – however they choose to define family – and to the neighbors and friends of Whitman-Walker Clinic,” she said.

The Clinic experienced a cash shortfall in early 2005 that led to the agency’s inability to meet one full payroll in May. Subsequently, Whitman-Walker Clinic announced nearly $2.5 million in budget cuts produced largely by a plan to close its sites in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. This crisis led to an outpouring of public and private financial assistance, including $3.6 million from the District of Columbia. While the Maryland site did close Sept. 30, the Clinic was able to retain its site in Northern Virginia, thanks to funds committed by the governments of Virginia, Arlington and Fairfax Counties and the city of Alexandria, Va.

The district money enabled the Clinic to rescind many of the planned cuts and to retain financial consultants, who have guided the creation and launch of the new business model.

In a related development, Whitman-Walker Clinic will receive $650,000 in federal funds this year to purchase and implement patient management software and a medical records database that will greatly increase staff efficiency and the client experience.

Changes in Board Size, Makeup

As part of the change to the business model, the Clinic’s board of directors also agreed to reconstitute itself as a smaller, more nimble body whose members are elected based on specific competencies needed by the agency.

“In the past, the board was selected through a complicated mix of board elections, membership elections and ex officio appointments based on their representing certain divisions or constituencies of the Clinic,” said Board Chair Billy Cox. “The new board will be composed of at-large members, with responsibility for the entire Clinic’s financial well-being and strategic direction.”

In December, the then-members of the Clinic (“member” historically being defined in the bylaws as anyone who had volunteered at least 30 hours to the Clinic is the previous two years) passed a ballot measure to make the board of directors the only members of the agency. A board governance committee has been meeting regularly to create the plan for nominating and electing the new board by May 1.

In addition, Whitman-Walker Clinic has contracted with Jair Lynch Companies to develop a strategic plan for the Clinic’s real estate that eliminates redundancies.

“Whitman-Walker Clinic is starting off 2006 in a position of strength,” Cox said. “The Clinic staff and board made some very hard decisions last year and we believe the steps we are taking now will ensure that this institution – which is so critical to our region – will not only survive but will flourish.

“We are especially grateful to our volunteers and donors, who have come out in force over the past year. We very much appreciate all their support for the Clinic and our clients, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. Their efforts continue to be crucial to our work and to the high quality of care Whitman-Walker Clinic provides.”

Established in 1973, Whitman-Walker Clinic is a non-profit, community-based provider of health care and social services in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Through sites in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia, the Clinic offers primary medical and dental care; mental health and addictions counseling and treatment; HIV education, prevention and testing; legal services; case management; and a food bank. Whitman-Walker Clinic is committed to meeting the life needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and people living with HIV/AIDS.

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