Community Health

Bexar County Commissioner’s Court authorized the formation of a Community Health Division within the Department of Community Resources. The division’s goal is to initiate, coordinate and administer programs that will improve the health of Bexar County’s citizens. Community Health will also develop and maintain community partnerships in order to achieve its goal.

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Read the Bexar County Commissioners Court
2013 DIRECTORY OF MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES


The programs being implemented by Community Health are funded through:

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009

Bexar County is the grantee for Part A and Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) funds for Bexar and surrounding counties through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (RWHATEA). The purpose of the RWHATEA is to address the unmet care and treatment needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS by funding primary health care and support services that enhance access to and retention in care.

The San Antonio area, comprised of Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Wilson counties receives approximately $4.2 million in funding from the federal government. The Bexar County Judge serves as the Chief Elected Official for the funds and appoints members to the San Antonio Area HIV Health Services Planning Council. The Planning Council, established in 1994, determines the needs of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the San Antonio area, prioritizes services and allocates funding to ensure 100% access and 0% disparity.

The Early Identification of Individuals with HIV/AIDS (EIIHA) is a recent RWHATEA initiative with the goal of finding persons living with HIV/AIDS who are unaware of their status and linking them to care. The HIV Syphilis Testing Task Force is a collaborative strategy between Bexar County, The Planning Council, and other stakeholders. The task force was developed to address early identification of individuals with HIV/AIDS and Syphilis in the area.

Bexar County also serves as the administrative agency for the Part B funds distributed under the RWHATEA. The federal government allocates Part B funds to the state of Texas, which then contract with local administrative agencies to distribute those funds to the community. The Part B funds are divided into four categories, State Services, Service Delivery, Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS and Administrative. Bexar County administers additional HIV funding such as HIV Health and Social Services (state services) and housing opportunities for people with AIDS. Bexar County distributes these funds to the following three (3) Health Service Delivery Areas (HSDA):

San Antonio HSDA

Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Wilson

Uvalde HSDA

Dimmit, Edward, Kinney, LaSalle, Maverick, Real, Uvalde, Val Verde, Zavala

Victoria HSDA

Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Victoria


For more information, contact the HIV Coordinator at (210) 335-7055.


For information on testing, services and a bilingual resource guide, visit www.HIV210.org.