Isle officials assure
stability of AIDS planHawaii HIV/AIDS patients who depend on state programs for services and life-sustaining medications are concerned that a hiring freeze by the governor will leave the programs floundering without staffing June 30. A hiring freeze has some patients worried
that crucial programs will be without staffBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comChanges are occurring, with three temporary positions for the state Health Department programs being converted to permanent civil service positions.
However, Kathleen Watanabe, director of the state Human Resources Development Department, said she has assured Dr. Chiyome Fukino, state health director, there will be no break in services.
She said the governor's freeze on vacancies will not affect the three top positions in the program, and they will be extended if the conversion and recruitment process is not completed by June 30.
"This is a really good example that we're going to make sure the bureaucracies of government don't stop essential services to the community," Watanabe said.
The programs involved are:
>> HSPAMM, which provides testing and medical monitoring and facilitates access to treatment for about 900 HIV/AIDS patients statewide.
>> HCOBRA, which provides continuation of insurance premium payments for those who lose coverage after leaving work because of the disease. It serves about 50 people.
>> HDAP, which provides medications for about 300 people who do not have medical insurance and do not qualify for Medicaid coverage.
Staffing these programs in the Health Department's Sexually Transmitted Disease and AIDS Prevention Branch are a director, patient services coordinator, pharmacologist and two temporary clerks.
The clerks, one federally funded and the other state-funded, are not affected, said Peter Whiticar, STD/AIDS Prevention chief.
Conversion of the program director and patient services coordinator jobs was completed in December, and recruitment should be under way, Watanabe said. A new classification had to be created for the specialized pharmacologist position, also in the recruitment stage, she said.
Dr. Cyril Goshima, chairman of the governor's committee on HIV/AIDS, and Whiticar recently met with Fukino and her deputies to stress the urgency of maintaining staffing.
"Whoever is in there now will stay through the competitive process," Fukino said, explaining that she is working with Watanabe to keep the services going.
Tom Sheeran, chairman of Hawaii Cares, a statewide consortium for AIDS care services, said the programs "are not widely known or well understood, but they do important work kind of behind the scenes."
The HIV drug assistance program is most critical, he said. It received more than $1.65 million in federal funds this fiscal year and $440,000 in state funds.
"All these programs save money by getting people early treatment ... which means keeping them out of the final stages of the disease, where hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent in the last days of life," Sheeran said.
David Fero, 43, of Kailua-Kona, who is active in West Hawaii AIDS Foundation advocacy groups, is among those receiving medication through the drug assistance program.
Diagnosed with the HIV virus eight years ago, he said: "I think the reason I've been able to keep going so long at all, I've had access to these medications. It just wouldn't have been possible to continue on without this assistance."
He estimates it would cost $700 to $800 a month if he had to pay for the drugs.
He said he works part time in a restaurant and "can at least pay my rent and survive." But if he did not have access to free medications, he said, "financially I couldn't do it. I can barely do it as it is even with this help."
State Health Department