HRSA Cuts $1.7 Million Funding for Brooklyn Clinics Serving HIV-Positive Women and Kids

Recently, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) turned down a $1.7 million grant renewal for the Family, Adolescent and Children's Experience (FACES), a program that serves HIV-positive women, infants, children and youth all across Brooklyn.

The FACES program, a network of seven clinics, served 1,175 HIV-positive patients last year, all of whom could suffer as a result of this drastic loss of funding. Meanwhile, more than 20 staff members, including doctors and case managers, have already been laid off.

As to the reasoning behind the funding cut, program director Jeffrey Birnbaum, M.D., M.P.H., was informed by HRSA that Kings County Hospital and the FACES Network were in a "head-to-head" competition as the single grantee for Brooklyn.