August/September 2018
Retiring Caregiver Helped Worst Hit in Early AIDS Epidemic Patricia Walthers has been on the frontlines of HIV care for over three decades. In 1984, while working as a Public Health Nurse for Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), she encountered her first patient with Kaposi sarcoma. Throughout the ensuing years, her commitment to helping those affected by HIV/AIDS has never wavered despite the challenges she faced in those early days, and during the almost 20 years she spent at D.A.P., most recently as the Associate Director of Home Care Services. Walthers, who retired in spring, moved to the desert from Michigan in 1980 when her husband received a job transfer and became the Controller for the Desert Sun (owned at the time by The Detroit News). “I thought it was for a few years at the most—surprise!” she says. “That was also when I changed my nursing focus from the Intermediate Intensive Care Unit to VNA.” Later, while working as the Care Coordinator for Desert Hospital Hospice,
she met Richard See, D.A.P.’s former Director of Case Management, and Bill Smith, who became Executive Director of D.A.P. in 1987. See hired her in
“...everyone you meet has something to teach you” 1999—a pivotal time in the evolution of HIV/AIDS care. “The medications were starting to work and people were living longer,” says Walthers. “With the special funding we had—from the Medi-Cal waiver program, Case Management Program, and the Ryan White Foundation—D.A.P.’s Home Care program was able to help people stay home and avoid nursing home placement.” Continued on back
Dramatic Fee Reduction for STI Screening & Treatment Amid an alarming spike in syphilis cases in the Coachella Valley recently, D.A.P. leadership significantly lowered barriers to access for sexual health services at its DOCK clinic. By lowering fees for STI screening and treatment from $80 to $25, they believe the organization can make a difference. “Public funding for healthcare is harder to find every day,” said David Brinkman, D.A.P. CEO. “But making STI screening and treatment attainable for all members in our community is how we can do our part to confront this syphilis epidemic head on.” Anyone at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level is eligible for a sliding fee scale for these services. D.A.P. has long been a resource for compassionate and non-judgmental STI care. Remaining free-of-charge are screenings for HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), and access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Continued on back
Weingart Foundation Enabling UNAIDS 90-90-90 Strategy at D.A.P. D.A.P. was awarded an impactful, twoyear six figure Unrestricted General Operating Support Grant in November from the Weingart Foundation, a Los Angeles-based independent foundation founded in 1951. Weingart Foundation is dedicated to “reducing disparities and providing greater access, resources and opportunities in disadvantaged communities, including those whose… sexual orientation has prevented them from realizing the dignities and liberties all people deserve (www.weingartfnd.org).” Continued on back