Ryan White Title IV Women, Infants, Children, Youth and Affected Family Members AIDS Healthcare - Ware County Board of Health Project Title: 2026 Ryan White Part D Women, Infants, Children and Adolescents Competing H12HA24818 Funding Amount: $656,538 The Ware County Board of Health, Southeast Health District (SEHD), has received a continuation award of $656,538 under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part D to continue providing comprehensive, family-centered HIV primary care and support services for women, infants, children, youth, and their affected family members. The Southeast Health District encompasses 16 rural counties (Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bulloch, Candler, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Evans, Jeff Davis, Pierce, Tattnall, Toombs, Ware, and Wayne) across more than 8,000 square miles of southeast Georgia. The SEHD has provided comprehensive HIV primary care since 1990 and currently operates two full-time Wellness Centers and two part-time Wellness Center, which serve as regional hubs for HIV primary medical care, and support services. These Wellness Centers provide the only comprehensive HIV medical care and support services available to many residents throughout this predominantly rural service area. In calendar year 2025, the Wellness Centers served 1,004 unduplicated clients living with HIV. Ryan White Part D clients represented 36.55% of all clients served, demonstrating the program's critical role in providing specialized services to women, infants, children, youth, and affected family members. The Southeast Health District is characterized by widespread rurality, persistent poverty, limited transportation, healthcare workforce shortages, and higher-than-average unemployment. These socioeconomic and structural barriers challenge timely access to HIV medical care and supportive services, making continued Ryan White Part D funding essential to improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations. The target population includes HIV-positive women, infants, children, youth, and affected family members residing within the Southeast Health District. Priority populations include youth and women, who continue to experience significant disparities in HIV outcomes. Program objectives include maintaining comprehensive HIV primary care for existing clients; identifying, linking, and enrolling newly diagnosed individuals and those who have fallen out of care; ensuring timely access to antiretroviral therapy (ART); providing appropriate preventive health screenings; ensuring that 100% of pregnant women receive ART to prevent perinatal HIV transmission; improving treatment adherence; eliminating gaps in care; and increasing viral suppression rates. These objectives will be achieved through the program's established multidisciplinary care model, which integrates medical care, case management, behavioral health, treatment adherence, and supportive services. Linkage to care and retention remain central priorities of the program. The retention program includes a dedicated RN Adherence Coordinator and Retention Specialist, who provide intensive follow-up for clients who are not virally suppressed, have been lost to follow-up, or are at risk of falling out of care. Through individualized care coordination, intensive case management, adherence counseling, outreach, and re-engagement efforts, these staff members work to improve retention in care and achieve sustained viral suppression. Continued Ryan White Part D funding will provide continued family centered comprehensive care to women, infants, children and adolescents with HIV.
