SEMHAC members dedicate their time, efforts and talents to ensure accessible health care services area available to People Living with HIV (PLWH). The following are some of the tasks the Council members complete on an ongoing basis:

• Needs Assessments - hearing directly from PLWH about their needs; what hinders them from accessing care, what services they need but are not available, and what services they use with ease. This task is completed by way of conducting focus groups, surveys, interviews, gathering secondary data, etc. (These are activities the Needs Assessment Committee focus on).

• Integrated Plan - The Council along with its stakeholders, create a 5-year ideal care plan for PLWH using the information gained from needs assessments, epidemiology, and additional sources. This plan consists of goals, objectives, strategies and activities (activities are carried out by Council members and stakeholders). The Council reviews and updates the plan each year to ensure it is in line with the needs of the PLWH. (These are activities the Long Range Planning Committee focus on).

• Priority Setting and Resource Allocation (PSRA) - The Council has the legislative authority to set service priorities, fund service categories and give direction on ways to carry out services. In order to complete this task, each year the Council creates a PSRA workgroup that includes not only members but also stakeholders. The workgroup comes together to review data (needs assessments, epi data, Provider feedback, data on how PLWH utilize services, etc.). The data reviewed is used to…

  • Prioritize care services in order from most important to least important (according to PLWH)

  • Allocate dollar amounts to prioritized service categories

  • Create directives that provide instruction on ways to deliver services (i.e. ensure a certain number of clinics are open after 4p and on the weekends, etc.)

  Every other month, the care service budget is reviewed and revised (monies reallocated if needed) to ensure services are being provided efficiently. (These are activities the Finance Committee focus on).

• Community Outreach - It is important the the community is aware of SEMHAC as well as the Ryan White Part A program. As a result, the Council attends events that focus on health care and educate attendees on the Council and the Ryan White program. The Council also uses its social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), to educate the community. (These are activities the People Who Care Committee, Social Media & Marketing Committee and Event Planning Committee focus on).