Finding Aid

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation opened their first pharmacy in downtown Los Angeles in 2000. Scott Carruthers, the current Senior Manager Chief Pharmacy Officer started working for AHF in 2004. At that time, there were only 4 pharmacies total under AHF. One was open in San Francisco but only for 3 days a week, one was open in Jacksonville in conjunction with the Disease Management clinic, and one had just closed in New York City.

            AHF then won the Pure Pharmacy grant which was through the Ryan White CARE Act. It was a bid for business funding through the federal government, in which AHF was then able to open up a pharmacy in Liberty City, FL. Once that first pharmacy was bought, they began to open all over Florida. AHF would either find an existing pharmacy site, or start one from the ground up.

            From there, the process would move towards getting the pharmacy program started. Scott Carruthers worked with Mike Kahane to reshape the AIDS Healthcare presence in Florida. The AHF Board of Directors realized that there was not enough attention towards those living with HIV/AIDS in the Deep South. They identified ten states that were at the highest risk and called it the “10 State Expansion Plan”.

            The 10 Expansion Plan started with Washington, D.C. with a healthcare center and a pharmacy. According to Carruthers, the clinic and the pharmacy coexisting together is the best model for patients getting treatment. Another model is to find good doctors and clinics, possibly from other AIDS organizations, and with the clinics and pharmacies other services are brought. Finding a doctor who fits with the mission of AHF as well as the pre-existing model first, then put the pharmacy in the clinic. Carruthers took a several year hiatus, and when he returned he began linking the pharmacy to the Out of the Closet thrift store at Wilton Manors. This was significant, as it provides a level of anonymity for people with HIV. Those who wish to be tested or to pick up their medication could simply go through the thrift store.

            As of 2018, AHF has 46 pharmacies nationally, with 16 in development. To keep patients in care, they need other support. For example, 340b is very important as it gives the margin for AHF to do what it does; it provides a safety net to treat more patients. The pharmacists deal directly with patients, collect information and build a relationship by having contact with each other on a monthly basis to make sure they are taking their medication. The AHF Pharmacy develops and uses different packaging to help patients remember to take their medication (calendar etc.). The pharmacies follow the schedules of the clinics and the thrift stores. The Out of the Closet has a more open schedule which helps with convenience.

Other business lines or themed subject matter for AHF Archive searches include;

• AHF Hospices
• Legal
• Northern Bureau
• Southern Bureau
• African Bureau
• Managed Care
• President’s Papers
• Advocacy
• Global
• Out of the Closet Thrift Stores

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation began working with legislation when Tom Myers joined as the Chief of Public Affairs and general counsel in 1998. Based in Washington D.C., the in-house attorney’s guide AHF’s legislation on issues such as drug pricing, reform of the Ryan White Care Act, and shaping PEPFAR (the Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief). It is important to HIV/AIDS advocacy that AHF has the resources to challenge the federal government and the large drug companies. Because of AHF, the majority of PEPFAR funding went to antiretroviral therapy. PEPFAR was also required to provide an annual report detailing the amount of people living with HIV/AIDS who were able to use treatment as a result of the program. Tom Myers set up a permanent base for the legal department in Washington D.C. in 2004.

            Since the creation of PEPFAR, AHF was able to exert more influence in legislation. However, when Tom Myers first signed on to AHF he had to focus on defending lawsuits from creditors and collectors after Michael Weinstein made the decision to but the AIDS cocktail in 1996. From 1996 to 2000 AHF was financially unstable. AHF sued for $1 million and endued up only have to pay $200,000 as a result of settlements. By suing large pharma corporations for their drug pricing (cardinal rather than wholesale), AHF uses settlements to fund international and pharmacy expansion, and to generally help the foundation grow. The Legal Department developed a business model, where expansion, public relations, and federal funding get passed through. The Legal Department also practices policy lobbying in order to get larger funders to adopt AHF practices.

            One of AHF’s more notable lawsuits was the constitutionality of Measure B. The County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act, or Measure B, is the law that requires the use of condoms in all scenes involving intercourse in pornography productions filmed in LA County. As a result of this measure, the porn production companies also have to obtain a health permit.

Other business lines or themed subject matter for AHF Archive searches include;

• AHF Hospices
• Legal
• Northern Bureau
• Southern Bureau
• African Bureau
• Managed Care
• President’s Papers
• Advocacy
• Global
• Out of the Closet Thrift Stores

AHF’s managed care program, Positive Healthcare, began in 1995 after earning a $1.25 million federal grant in 1994. Positive Healthcare is the nation’s first full-service capitated managed care program for people living with HIV and AIDS. At the time, AHF operated five outpatient healthcare centers and two residential hospices. The client population was around 2,600. AHF then and now has the largest community-based provider of HIV medical care in the United States. As part of an original study with Johns Hopkins, AHF created the specialized healthcare program for those with HIV providing full medical services and mental health and psycho-social support. Under a contract with the California Department of Health Services, Positive Healthcare accepted Medi-Cal recipients, and expanded to provide care within established HMO and health insurance networks.  

            The same year, AHF partnered with the first non-AHF healthcare provider in its ever-growing network of providers, St Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. Services in the managed care program include:

1. Telephone access to a 24-hour emergency nurse advice service
2. A personal health advisor, assisting clients with questions about their benefits, etc.
3. Access to clinical drug trials
4. Full mental health benefits by a team of professionals
5. Pharmacy benefits
6. Nutrition services from a register dietician
7. An 800-information line in which a client can call and retrieve information by a touch-tone phone
8. In-patient care at Southern California hospitals with AIDS Specialty Services
9. An information center of tapes, books and other media at every healthcare center on topics covering nutrition, exercise, vitamins and herbs, the latest medications and treatment

The first director of managed care at AHF was Marie Flores Clarke, and is currently Donna Stidham. The AHF Managed Care program spread to Florida, with a contract with both the federal and state government, called Positive Healthcare Partners.

Other business lines or themed subject matter for AHF Archive searches include;

• AHF Hospices
• Legal
• Northern Bureau
• Southern Bureau
• African Bureau
• Managed Care
• President’s Papers
• Advocacy
• Global
• Out of the Closet Thrift Stores

The AIDS crisis in Africa was under AHF’s radar when Michael Weinstein went to Durban, South Africa, to attend the 2000 International AIDS Conference. After the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, stated that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, Michael Weinstein met with local South African AIDS Activists to find out what AHF could do to help. The activist group NetCom SA led by Nomaswazi Mlaba joined with AHF to build the Ithembalabantu Clinic (meaning People’s Hope in Zulu), the first clinic that provided antiretroviral drugs in South Africa. The South African government was hostile towards AHF and did not support their endeavor to provide ARV’s to those dying of AIDS related complications. Terri Ford headed the building of the clinic, and in 3 weeks the Ithembalabantu Clinic in Umlazi was complete despite the roadblocks from the government, the expense of the clinic, and the time restraint. At the time, 1 in 3 adults were infected with HIV in Umlazi. The initial goal of the clinic was to prove that the antiretroviral drugs would work, and after the first year one hundred men, women, and children survived when they almost certainly would have died after they received the free ARV’s from Ithembalabantu.

            AHF then opened a clinic in Masaka, Uganda. There was more support from the government, as President Yoweri Museveni had already established a significant AIDS policy in the 1980s. By 2001, AHF had created the Global Immunity Division which then created “Uganda Cares” for all of the work done in Uganda. Mary Adair oversaw and participated in the opening and running of the clinic, with the Masaka native Hope Katete as the clinic’s first nurse. The opening of the clinics and the free ARV’s provided helped those who were on the brink of death to survive and have hope for the future. The current head of the African Bureau is Dr. Penninah Iutung.

            Since the founding of the African Bureau, AHF has rapidly expanded its global program. Currently AHF is located in 41 countries, including the United States of America, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, and Paraguay.

Other business lines or themed subject matter for AHF Archive searches include;

• AHF Hospices
• Legal
• Northern Bureau
• Southern Bureau
• African Bureau
• Managed Care
• President’s Papers
• Advocacy
• Global
• Out of the Closet Thrift Stores

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation founded the Out of the Closet Thrift Stores in October of 1990. The first store was in Atwater Village, California. This “social enterprise” entailed creating a business that generates revenue that goes to AHF’s life-saving services and advocacy. AHF’s thrift stores eventually turned into a nationwide chain with locations in Washington, Texas, Ohio, Florida, California, Georgia, and New York.  Hundreds of millions of dollars are raised through the thrift stores. The money all goes to funding the medical care and advocacy programs that help those who cannot afford care all around the world. A unique aspect of Out of the Closet is that it offers free HIV testing in the store. This allows those who are fearful of stigma to get tested and if necessary get connected to treatment all while visiting a thrift store.

Michael Weinstein, co-founder and CEO of AHF, came up with the idea for Out of the Closet in order to expand AHF from a hospice organization to one that provides healthcare. In order to do so, there needed to be significant revenue in order to afford the medication to distribute to those who are unable to pay. Although by 1990 the life-saving treatment for HIV/AIDS had yet to be discovered, however with the money made from OTC, clinics could be set up in order to treat opportunistic infections in those who cannot afford medication any other way. Marc Neighbor, a 28-year-old who previously managed a Salvation Army thrift store, became the first manager of the Out of the Closet in Atwater Village.

By 1998 AHF operated ten Out of the Closet Thrift Stores.  Ten years later in 2008, Out of the Closet went national.  The first store out of California was founded in Wilton Manors, Florida. A year later in 2009, AHF opened its first “all-in-one” facility called the AHF Magic Johnson Healthcare Center in San Francisco. This “all-in-one” included a pharmacy, medical services, and an Out of the Closet thrift store. Because of this model, patients can access the care that they need without having to travel to multiple locations.

By 2011 AHF was operating 21 Out of the Closet thrift stores. Ninety-six cents out of every dollar made at Out of the Closet goes directly back into AHF’s programs for treatment, prevention, and outreach both nationally and internationally. As of 2017, AHF still operates 21 Out of the Closet thrift stores in 8 states. AHF’s mission statement can be seen on Out of the Closet walls, stating that AHF provides “cutting-edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay.”

Other business lines or themed subject matter for AHF Archive searches include;

• AHF Hospices
• Legal
• Northern Bureau
• Southern Bureau
• African Bureau
• Managed Care
• President’s Papers
• Advocacy
• Global
• Out of the Closet Thrift Stores