HIV/AIDS Providers' Letter to the Governor and House & Senate Leaders

Many of you have requested a copy of the letter read at our Closing Ceremonies by Tim Killian, brother of Rob Killian, MD. Below, please find the sign on letter supported by various members of the HIV/AIDS provider community. This letter was included in each legislative visit and is a heartfelt and concerned stance on the issues at hand with the proposed budget cuts. Please join me in thanking all of those who joined in this effort!


February 18, 2009

The Honorable Chris Gregoire, Governor
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

The Honorable Frank Chopp
Speaker of the House
339C Legislative Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

The Honorable Lisa Brown
Senate Majority Leader
307 Legislative Building
PO Box 40403
Olympia, WA 98504-0403


Dear Governor Gregoire, Speaker Chopp, and Majority Leader Brown:

We know that Washington State is facing a profound financial crisis and a record deficit, and that as leaders you will be forced to make difficult choices during your deliberations over the state budget. However, we are writing to you today to implore you to retain funding for the many valuable AIDS and AIDS-related services in the state.

As health care professionals and HIV care providers we are committed to giving care to all who need it regardless of their ability to pay. However, our ability to provide care to those in financial need is directly tied to funding assistance we receive from the state.

As we look out at the landscape we see an ongoing crisis, with providers facing higher infection rates and growing challenges accessing quality care. On AIDS Awareness & Action Day (A3D), February 18, 2009, we will bring several hundred advocates to your offices and the state Capitol to highlight the challenges our community is facing.

On A3D we hope that you will remember that Washington State has been a leader not only in care for people with HIV/AIDS, but in addressing the challenge of covering uninsured children and adults. This state has been a national leader in making sure that the under and uninsured do not go without care or access to medications.

We not only fund the Evergreen Health Insurance Program (EHIP) well, but we fund prevention efforts and we fund the most nutritionally sound food program for the sick in the country. If we cut funding to these programs, all of the progress we have made will have been for nothing, and we face the prospect of turning people away, having some go uninsured and losing access to critical nutrition programs.

As physicians and healthcare providers we know that the uninsured receive care, but they receive it in clinics and emergency rooms when their condition is critical and requires the most costly forms of medical intervention. For every dollar we spend on prevention we save thousands if not hundreds of thousands in treatment costs down the road.

In the midst of a crisis that has tremendous human services implications is not the time tocut prevention efforts. From our perspective as providers who see patients every day, we see the demand for services increasing rather than diminishing.

We believe that our investment in services should be equal to the healthcare challenges confronting the State of Washington. Please do not cut these essential services.


Sincerely,

Robert Killian, MD
Jeffrey Olliffe, MD
Guy Forte, Rph
Darren Augenstein, PharmD
Peter Shalit, MD
David Aboulafia, MD
David Holt, ARNP
Vy Chu, MD
Steven Carzasty, MSW
Steven Burrows, MD
Wayne Dodge, MD
Jamie Hasse, LPN
Pat Hogan, ARNP
Michael Syputa, LPN
Jason Thams, PharmD


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