D.C. Clinic Will Start to Charge Its Clients; Whitman-Walker Also to Sell Property

Facing a $800,000 deficit by year's end and falling cash reserves, the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Clinic plans to begin charging for services and to sell off property to cope with plunging donations and rising costs. The nonprofit organization, which provides HIV/AIDS and related health services to thousands of low-income area residents, approved the measures to avoid severely curtailing services or closing the clinic. WWC was founded in 1973 as a volunteer-run STD clinic for gay men.

WWC officials said the clinic expects to have zero cash reserves by the end of this year. In addition, the clinic's bank line of credit has been slashed almost in half, to $600,000, which officials said is insufficient to get through next spring.

WWC has grown rapidly -- revenue more than doubled in the last decade -- but costs rose faster, said WWC officials. Like most nonprofits, it depended on private fundraising to close the gap. But WWC's fundraising, which peaked in 1999 when it netted $7.3 million, has slid in recent years. WWC officials said they want to raise close to $1 million from their annual AIDS Walk on Oct. 1, but they are not optimistic. Last year's AIDS Walk raised only $100,000, up from just $4,000 in 2001.

To cut costs, WWC officials plan to slash administrative overhead and reduce the clinic's 285-employee workforce, saving more than $1 million annually. They also plan to sell two transitional housing buildings and property on U Street NW that houses mostly administrative offices. Housing residents will be moved to other clinic properties.

WWC will also start charging sliding fees next month for some services and more aggressively pursue reimbursement from private insurers. Clients could be charged as much as $166 for a gynecological exam at WWC's Lesbian Health Center, $169 for a basic STD screening and $95 for an HIV test. Other service fees will be phased in by spring. However, officials said many of the mostly poor clients will pay a nominal fee, if anything.

With such measures, officials hope to end the year with a $360,000 surplus. But further cutbacks could result if federal funding decreases.

Back to other news for September 19, 2003