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DAILY 03-02-10 MD SU B4 BLACK
B4
S KLMNO TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010
D.C. rushing to fix Patience
AIDS records snag asked of
aid, private insurance and other
Dozens of problems
health programs before drawing same-sex
from the fund, ensuring that it re-
found at federally
mains a safety net for the desti-
funded clinics in region
tute. Leftover Ryan White money
can be used to pay for critical sup-
couples
port services, including case man-
by Sandhya Somashekhar, agement, emergency housing and
Debbie Cenziper counseling.
D.C. marriage bureau
and Susan Kinzie Federal monitors, however,
preparing for a crush of
found that some of the clinics
The District’s troubled HIV/ they examined were not tracking
Day 1 license applicants
AIDS Administration is scram- patients’ income levels or insur-
bling to correct dozens of billing ance eligibility, leaving little way by Keith L. Alexander
and record-keeping deficiencies of knowing whether patients
discovered at Washington area qualified for Ryan White funding. D.C. Superior Court officials
medical clinics that draw federal “Our law is very clear: The Ryan are preparing for what they ex-
AIDS funding. White program is the payer of last pect to be a flood of same-sex cou-
Federal monitors found last resort,” Douglas Morgan, who ples descending on the court-
summer that some of the pro- helps oversee the program for the house Wednesday to apply for
grams did not appear to be track- Health Resources and Services marriage licenses.
ing fundamental information Administration, recently told The Wednesday is the first day that
about AIDS patients, such as lab Post. “My sense is that perhaps it same-sex couples in the District
tests, medications and infection may be easier just to submit a bill can apply for licenses in the mar-
levels. Monitors also said in their to the Ryan White program as op-
DAN MORSE/THE WASHINGTON POST
riage office, in Room 4485.
report that clinics might have posed to going through a third- Evelyn Zucker, 84, wondered why Roger Greenberg was convicted. “He hasn’t done anything,” she said. “We’re anticipating a lot of ex-
paid their bills by improperly tap- party insurer where you have to cited residents from the District
ping federal funds set aside for substantiate billing.”
low-income AIDS patients with- Monitors also described prob-
out insurance. lems with record-keeping and pa-
Montgomery jury finds man
and suburbs coming down to the
court to apply, and we want to
make this as smooth an experi-
If the lapses are not corrected, tient care. They said some clinics ence as possible,” said Lee F. Sat-
monitors could ask for the federal had not tracked such data as pa-
money back. tients’ vaccination histories, the
The problems come at a time presence of infection or stage of
exploited elderly woman
terfield, the court’s chief judge.
To expedite the process, Satter-
field said, couples should bring,
when city leaders are struggling the disease, which could be signs in addition to their “patience,”
to overhaul the District’s of “possible substandard medical completed applications, which
$100 million-a-year program for treatment.” SWINDLE from B1 Zucker to the Sleep Inn hotel. can be downloaded from the
people with AIDS. A Washington The Health Resources and Ser- Hall, the prosecutor, implied that court’s Web site. Couples should
Post investigation late last year vices Administration approved nursing home. Greenberg was hoping she would also have $35 for their applica-
found that the HIV/AIDS Admin- about $3 million over several No, she was told. die. tion and $10 for the license (cash
istration had awarded $25 mil- years so the District could build a “Oh, dear God. I wanted him “He stands to inherit the home or money order).
lion to nonprofit groups that de- data-collection system. out.” when she dies,” Hall told jurors. The application fee is waived
livered substandard care or could “Obviously, things haven’t hap- At one point during the inter- “He stands to inherit her estate for couples who are registered in
not account for any work at all. pened as quickly as they should,” view, Zucker said she didn’t know when she dies. So what does he
D.C. Council member David A. Morgan said. “The city is still whether Greenberg took her do on the morning of December
Catania (I-At Large) has held a se- working on it.” money, and at another she said he the 9th? He leaves Evelyn, having
Gone is the
ries of hearings in recent months HIV/AIDS Administration offi- did not. “He hasn’t done any- suffered five hours of chest pains,
language that
to address the problems. cials acknowledged the deficien- thing,” she said. “Why should he lying in her feces and urine, in the
“I want to get past these effi- cies but said they have been work- be convicted?” hotel room at the Sleep Inn. And
asked for the
ciency issues so we can move on ing to correct the problems. Zucker was called as a witness he leaves. He goes. He’s out of
to tackle quality-of-care issues,” “You always want to make sure by prosecutors on the first day of there.”
name of “bride”
Catania said. “Once we get our ad- every provider is vigilant,” said the week-long trial. At times, she Adam Harris, Greenberg’s at-
ministrative house in order, there HIV/AIDS Administration Direc- said Greenberg should be set free. torney, told jurors that Greenberg
and “groom.”
are any number of things that we tor Shannon L. Hader. “From our At other times, she implicated Roger Greenberg, 68, was never neglected Zucker and only
are poised to do that are going to experience, the vast majority are him as being deeply involved in convicted of swindling an wanted the best for her. There the District as domestic partners.
have light-year advances in the usually very good. . . . The next her finances. 84-year-old woman. was no indication that he had Those couples should bring their
way we respond to this epidemic.” part is how to document and Zucker said Monday that caused any medical problems proof of registration and the $10
AIDS advocates say the lapses where to document to . . . meet all Greenberg looked at her in court the verdict, in contrast to his re- Zucker may have suffered, Harris license fee.
described by federal monitors the requirements. That’s where and mouthed, “I love you,” to peated whispers to one of his at- added. Satterfield said he expects the
have vexed some clinics for years, we see the biggest opportunity for which she said she didn’t re- torneys during the trial. He took “Roger Greenberg and Evelyn marriage bureau to receive far
despite oversight that should making sure we improve.” spond. He has said he wants to re- a couple of deep breaths and hard Zucker had a relationship where more than the usual 10 marriage
have been performed by the HIV/ Officials at several local med- store his union with Zucker, swallows and blinked but said they each gained something,” applications completed each day.
AIDS Administration. A consul- ical clinics said they routinely which has been annulled by a nothing. Harris said. “Roger gave Evelyn The office has hired temporary
tant hired by the city had found check for patient eligibility before judge, but Zucker said she doesn’t Greenberg faces 40 years in care. Care in the form of compan- employees to help staff the bu-
similar problems at more than 20 drawing Ryan White money. They want that. prison when he is sentenced ionship, of time and of attention. reau. Satterfield has also ar-
AIDS programs in the region in did say, however, that it’s often In her closing argument to ju- May 7, by Judge Eric M. Johnson. And Evelyn gave Roger the only ranged to bring in additional
recent years, records show. easier and less time-consuming to rors, prosecutor Jessica Hall A native of New York with a gift thing that she had to give, which workers from other areas in the
“This could be a potentially draw money from the Ryan White urged them to understand why for telling entertaining stories, was money. Roger Greenberg courthouse if needed.
devastating situation for us,” said program rather than health insur- Zucker was reluctant to admit Greenberg said he met Zucker didn’t commit a crime. He didn’t “We want this court to serve
Patricia Hawkins, a longtime local ance programs not focused exclu- that fraud had occurred right un- about 20 years ago. steal from Evelyn. He didn’t exert the community and be in a posi-
AIDS advocate. “There’s so much sively on AIDS. der her nose. After police closed in on Green- undue influence over Evelyn. He tion to add to the joy and excite-
volume going through the med- “The clinics are all mission- “Ms. Zucker has worked her berg, they found that he had been didn’t neglect Evelyn.” ment we expect to see in the cou-
ical clinics, and for a long time, no driven and got into the business whole life for what she has,” Hall cutting up a copy of her will and Greenberg was convicted on ples who come to the court,” he
one had been adequately mon- to serve patients,” said Catalina said. “Her generosity was exploit- creating a new one, according to four of five counts. He was acquit- said.
itoring whether clients were actu- Sol, HIV/AIDS director at La Clin- ed.” testimony. The two were married ted of first-degree neglect but The court has also had to redo
ally eligible” for federal assis- ica del Pueblo in Northwest Wash- The jury deliberated for slight- Nov. 26, 2008, in a car outside a convicted of second-degree ne- its traditional applications and
tance. ington. “We’ve all had to mature ly more than three hours. Green- courthouse in Rockville. glect. brochures. Gone is the language
Last summer’s report by the in the world of billing in the berg was silent as the jury read From there, Greenberg took morsed@washpost.com that asked for the name of “bride”
U.S. Health Resources and Ser- health industry that we have, and “groom.” Instead, the appli-
vices Administration focused on which is very disjointed. It’s not as cations ask for the name of the
programs that receive money un- easy as it looks.” “spouse.”
der the federal Ryan White pro- Clinic officials said they keep Also tweaked: the final pro-
gram, which pays for medical care tabs on medications, infection nouncement of “husband and
and support services. Monitors levels and other health informa- wife.” Now judges will proclaim,
visited medical clinics in the Dis- tion but that documentation “I now pronounce you legally
trict but said problems had also might be scattered on different married,” unless the marrying
turned up repeatedly in routine records. couple suggests something differ-
inspections across the region. Arlington County Board of Su- ent.
The Washington area receives pervisors member Barbara A. Fa- It takes three business days for
about $45 million annually from vola (D), past chairman of a re- the applications to be processed,
the program, named for the Indi- gional group that manages AIDS so the soonest the couples will be
ana teenager who died of the dis- funding in Northern Virginia, able to wed is March 9.
ease in 1990. The HIV/AIDS Ad- said that sometimes staff workers Court officials are also expect-
ministration is responsible for at small clinics aren’t trained to ing protests by groups opposed to
doling out a portion of the grant track federal dollars in the way same-sex marriage.
to AIDS programs in Northern government monitors expect but alexanderk@washpost.com
Virginia, suburban Maryland and that “it’s not necessarily that the
West Virginia. dollars are misspent. Sometimes
According to federal rules, the they’re not annotated correctly on
Ryan White fund is supposed to the various reports.”
COURTESY OF SCOTT MAXWELL
LOTTERIES
be a “payer of last resort” for low- somashekhars@washpost.com A worker feeds a raccoon at the Fort Totten Station. As many as four of the animals have been seen there.
income people without insurance. cenziperd@washpost.com
March 1
Medical clinics must bill Medic- kinzies@washpost.com
Kitchen closes for Metro raccoons
DISTRICT
Mid-Day Lucky Numbers: 4-6-8
Mid-Day D.C. 4: 2-2-9-4
feeding the raccoons that chang- ro will empty the station’s trash
Mid-Day DC-5: 2-6-3-9-3
Transit agency will
es their habits and spells out a cans one last time right before
Lucky Numbers (Sun.): 6-8-7
76th Birthday SalePresident’s Sale
monitor trash until it
death sentence,” Simon said. closing, when raccoons are most
Lucky Numbers (Mon.): 8-6-3
Raccoons at Fort Totten were likely to look for food, officials
D.C. 4 (Sun.): 2-6-9-7
can relocate critters
“dining like kings,” said John said.
D.C. 4 (Mon.): 9-2-4-5
CustomUpholstery
Griffin, director of Humane Wild- Metro has also posted a sign
DC-5 (Sun.): 7-4-7-3-5
life Services, who inspected the asking commuters to refrain
DC-5 (Mon.): 3-3-1-3-8
&SlipcoverLabor
by Nicole Norfleet area on behalf of the Humane So- from feeding the animals. Addi-
Daily 6 (Sun.): 4-14-16-18-22-36 *29
ciety. Fort Totten is an open-air tionally, the transit agency said it
Daily 6 (Mon.): 7-9-23-28-30-36 *20
For a hungry raccoon looking station surrounded by wooded is planning to capture and relo-
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for an easy meal, the Fort Totten cate the raccoons “as soon as pos-
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thing of a smorgasbord. Accord- ven Taubenkibel.
Pick 4: 5-5-5-1
ing to a recent wildlife assess-
raccoons . . .
Local trappers said raccoons
Night/Pick-3 (Sun.): 1-8-0
ment, the station has all the in- near train stations are not un-
Pick-3 (Mon.): 7-5-9
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spells out a
common.
Pick-4 (Sun.): 7-5-5-4
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accessible garbage cans and feed-
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In 2008, Adcock’s Trapping
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A day after Metro employees at — Laura Simon, Humane Society of assess a raccoon problem at its
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Match 5 (Mon.): 13-14-29-32-35 *36
S
tewar
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ported to be feeding raccoons in company President John Adcock VIRGINIA
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front of commuters, the Humane areas. Griffin said the raccoons Jr. The company gets about 800
Day/Pick-3: 3-8-3
b
y
,
J
ac
Society of the United States part- are probably using the station calls a year about raccoons.
Pick-4: 6-9-6-3
25%Off
t
ration
nered with Metro to conduct an more as a buffet than a den. After Females typically give birth at
Cash-5: 1-8-9-15-34
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inspection of the site. speaking with employees, he as- the beginning of April, he said.
Night/Pick-3 (Sun.): 7-5-2
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Cash-5 (Sun.): 9-11-25-28-32
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raccoons are killed, she said. As a response to the Humane ciate people with food.”
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“It could be one person who is Society’s recommendations, Met- norfleetn@washpost.com
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