Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus Public Health (CPH) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This ordinance is needed to accept and appropriate $4,727,019.00 in grant monies to fund the Ryan White Part A HIV Care grant program, for the period March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022. The total amount funded for this period is $4,727,019.00.
The Ryan White Part A (RWPA) HIV Care grant’s purpose is to improve access to medical care for persons living with HIV or AIDS living in Central Ohio. The goal is that each client will achieve viral suppression, which improves their quality of life and reduces the risk of spreading the infection. This grant will enhance medical services for both somatic and behavioral health, pay for HIV related doctor’s visits, mental health services, substance abuse services, and other services allowable by the grant, and strengthen the case management and linkage to care programs at CPH.
In 2019, the RWPA program for the Central Ohio area served over 1,807 people living with HIV through several programs including outpatient/ambulatory medical care, mental health services, medical case management, early intervention services, housing services, non-medical case management, emergency financial assistance and medical transportation.
HRSA has tasked CPH to improve the efficiency of the reallocation of funds as necessary in order to minimize unused funds to the greatest extent possible and to maximize the available services and avoid potential penalties as future carryover funds may not be permitted by HRSA. For this reason, it is necessary to authorize the Board of Health to accept any additional awards for the RWPA HIV Care grant program; to authorize the appropriation of any additional awards for the RWPA HIV Care grant program; and to authorize the City Auditor to transfer appropriations between object classes for the RWPA HIV Care grant program.
Emergency action is requested to allow the fina...
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