HIV/STD Hotline to be discontinued - Project Neon BLOG

HIV/STD Hotline to be discontinued

Posted by A.T. Martin on March 4, 2009 8:13 PM

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM PUBLIC HEALTH:

In order to absorb reductions in next year's County revenue, the HIV/AIDS Program
will be discontinuing the HIV/STD Hotline. The Hotline's last day of operation will
be Friday, December 5, 2008. However, many of the services offered by the Hotline
will be available via the alternatives described below. Since 1985 the Hotline has
provided King County residents with information about HIV and other STDs, along with
referrals to related local resources. Evolving information technologies and utilization
patterns convinced HIV/AIDS Program planners that County revenue shortfalls could
be absorbed in the least harmful way by reducing some of the Hotline services, and
delivering others in alternative ways.

While we are no longer able to provide dedicated staffi ng to the Hotline, we remain
committed to assisting people in Seattle/King County gain access to information
and resources. The HIV/AIDS Program will continue to serve callers in the following
manner:

  • General information calls about HIV, other STDs and other health related questions will be forwarded to the 24-hour National HIV/AIDS Hotline. Callers will be able to speak with someone in person regarding their question.
  • The HIV/AIDS Program will assure that callers requesting local resources, including HIV/STD testing referrals, are assisted in accessing these resources.
  • The TTY and 1-800 lines will be eliminated. Hearing impaired callers may access our referral and information services via telephone relay lines.
  • We will continue to provide service to callers who do not speak English through our contract with Language Line interpretation services.

Important information about the phone number:
The Hotline phone number (206-205-7837) will remain active for at least one
year. Callers may also call the HIV/AIDS Program directly at 206-296-4649. Both
numbers will be available for callers seeking HIV/STD resources.

We are dropping the "Hotline" moniker and advertising ourselves as the HIV/AIDS
Program, 206-296-4649.

If you have further questions about the changes to our information and referral
services, please call us at 206-296-4649.

Please pass this notice on to others who have relied on the HIV/STD Hotline for
information and referral services in the past.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance with this transition. Public Health
and the HIV/AIDS Program remain committed to working with Washington State
to identify and secure more stable funding for HIV/STD and other public health
programming in the future.

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This page contains a single entry by A.T. Martin published on March 4, 2009 8:13 PM.

Zine 56 is here! was the previous entry in this blog.

Zine 57 is OUT & ABOUT is the next entry in this blog.

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