Whitman-Walker Posts $2.6 Million Surplus

Washington, D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Health has announced a 2011 budget surplus of $2.6 million. This is the second consecutive year the center, 20 percent of whose patients are HIV-positive, has realized a surplus.

Whitman-Walker’s patient roster has doubled since it began the process of becoming a primary care community health center in 2006. It served 15,515 patients in 2011, a 20 percent increase over 2010 statistics.

In 2006, Whitman-Walker was in financial arrears. Its board and community proponents credit Executive Director Don Blanchon with refocusing its direction.

“We can attribute our financial success to three factors,” Blanchon said. “First, more patient care produced higher revenues, largely from third-party health insurance payments and prescription drug sales. Second, our fundraising efforts exceeded our projections for the first time in at least five years. Third, our new operating culture emphasizes the importance of living within our means.”

Blanchon notes Whitman-Walker’s patient roster encompasses a diverse representation of residents from all eight of the city’s wards:
*68 percent male; 29 percent female; 3 percent transgender (up 185 percent since 2006)
*50 percent self-identified as LGB (up 77 percent since 2006); 50 percent self-identified as heterosexual
*48 percent black; 37 percent white; 15 percent “other or unknown”; 14 percent Hispanic
*4 percent below age 21; 33 percent ages 21-30; 25 percent ages 31-40; 20 percent ages 41-50; 13 percent ages 51-60; 5 percent above age 60

Whitman-Walker’s IRS documents (excluding pharmacy income, per IRS filing requirements) report a 2009 deficit of $660,567, and a 2010 surplus of $1.1 million. The center used the 2011 surplus to eliminate its outstanding credit debt and reduce its accounts payable.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!