Atlantic City outsources HIV and WIC officesFriday, October 16, 2015 By John V. Santore

ATLANTIC CITY — As grant funds and city funds dry up, the city is outsourcing both its STD testing and treatment and its WIC program, which serve some of the city’s neediest populations, to outside managers.

Earlier this month, Gateway Community Action Partnership took over the city’s WIC program, administered throughout Atlantic County.

Starting next year, AtlantiCare and the South Jersey AIDS Alliance will oversee STD testing and treatment in the city.

The changes will save the city about $300,000 per year, but services shouldn’t be interrupted, said Dale Finch, the city’s licensing and inspection director.

A state grant of about $955,000 paid for the WIC program, which provides nutritional assistance to low-income women and children, Finch said.

The city ran the program in multiple Atlantic County locations. The grant paid for 14 of the program’s 16 employees, Finch said, with the city paying about $100,000 in salaries and benefits for the other two.

This year, the state put the program out to bid. Gateway, which administers WIC programs in four other New Jersey counties, was selected to run it for Atlantic County, and has done so since Oct. 1.

Director Jaya Velpuri said Gateway plans to move its Atlantic City services out of City Hall to a nearby location — still to be selected — that’s more accessible in the evenings. Other than that, clients shouldn’t see any service disruptions, she said.

Velpuri also said Gateway hired six former Atlantic City employees, while two others turned down a position with the company.

Similar to WIC, the city’s STD services were funded in part using a $300,000 grant, Finch said, but the city still paid about $200,000 per year for the salaries and benefits of four of the department’s eight employees.

However, AtlantiCare and the AIDS Alliance already provide those services.As a result, several city employees will be laid off at the end of this year, while those two groups will expand their work.

Starting Jan. 1, the AIDS Alliance will run the mobile testing van, which also will continue offering testing, counseling and a clean syringe exchange at Oasis, located at 32 S. Tennessee Ave., CEO Carol Harney said.

Case management, a food bank and other services will continue to be provided at a separate office located at 19 S. Gordons Alley, she said.

Harney said the alliance will have to bring on several new staffers to accommodate its additional responsibilities, but hopes to obtain some of the funding the state previously directed to Atlantic City.

“We want to find as many people as possible so that they know their HIV status and get on treatment,” Harney said, adding that the alliance’s goal is “not only treating people but also preventing new infections.”

Sandy Festa, administrative director of the AtlantiCare Health Plex, located at 1401 Atlantic Ave., said AtlantiCare will take over the city’s STD testing previously provided at a now-closed Baltic Avenue location.

Those seeking tests and case management already can go to the Health Plex, she said. Testing and counseling also will take place at City Hall through the end of this year.

Festa said AtlantiCare is ready and able to work with the clients who previously used the city’s services.

“We modified our schedules to accommodate (those coming from the city’s) clinic, and we’re very excited to be able to help the city with its plans,” she said.