Marsha Martin to leave DC Administration for HIV Policy & Programs

Marsha Martin, Director of the DC The Administration for HIV Policy and Programs, will be leaving that position. In a farewell e-mail, Martin wrote "As a Williams appointee, it is my time to leave the government and I do so with great respect and admiration for this agency. Together, you have changed and re-ignited the conversation about the HIV epidemic in Washington, DC."

Is anyone else out there as suprised as I am at this news?

During her tenure, AHPP launched an ambitious HIV screening program for the district. The program fell far short of it's goals, and of the 80,000 rapid HIV test kits that were purchased, the majority were either given away or expired without being used. Still, 20,000 were tested for HIV in a five month period which is a significant increase (twice that of an average year).

AHPP appeared to be steadily improving under Martin, and new staff members brought on board by Martin (some very recently) offer a lot of hope for the future. Unfortunately, some problems that plagued the office did continue. HIV/AIDS Surveilance continues to be a major problem. And a recent audit criticized AHPP's monitoring of local HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Yes, there are still many things that need to be fixed at AHPP. That said, I'm sad to see Marsha Martin leave. I felt like under her leadership we were moving in the right direction.

Finding a new Director of AHPP could take several weeks, or it could take several months. Once we do find a new director, there is no guarantee that the staff members Marsha Martin brought on board will want to remain under new leadership.

The thought of going several weeks or several months without a strong leader at AHPP terrifies me. We simply don't have that much time to spare.