Apla Health & Wellness

“Significant changes to governing documents: during the fiscal year, apla health & wellness updated the bylaws of the organization. These updates are as follows: article 3 directors the board's powers and authority shall include, but not be limited to the following: (e) approval of decisions to subcontract for substantial portion of the corporation's services; (i) establishing written policies and procedures to ensure the appropriate use of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of any federal grants; (m) establishing, reviewing and updating, at least once every three years and as needed, the corporations' policies relating to its sliding fee discount program, quality improvements/assurance program, and billing and collections (policy for waiving or reducing patient fees and, if applicable, refusal to pay); article 4 committees (f) quality, audit, risk and compliance committee the corporation will have an annual audit performed by an independent third party auditor to determine, among other things, the fiscal integrity of financial transactions and reports and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of any grants the corporation may be subject to. The quality, audit, risk and compliance committee of the board (the "quality, audit, risk and compliance committee") shall be responsible for recommending to the board the retention and termination of the independent third party auditor, setting the auditor's compensation, conferring with the auditor to satisfy its members that the financial affairs of the corporation are in order, reviewing and determining whether to accept the audit, assuring that any nonaudit services performed by the auditing firm conform with accepted standards for auditor independence and approving performance of nonaudit services by the auditing firm. The quality, audit, risk and compliance committee shall also be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the quality of services and clinical programs and evaluating enterprise risk including: reviewing and recommending risk management policies, protocols and procedures governing the provision of patient services, the quality assurance plan developed by the corporation's staff, and assessments and clinical audits performed by the corporation's staff. The quality, audit, risk and compliance committee shall also be responsible for reviewing and recommending the clinical privileges of health center provider staff, ensuring that programs services and hours are patient friendly and meet patient needs and overseeing and evaluating the corporation's patient satisfaction activities. The composition of the quality, audit, risk, and compliance committee shall at all times comply with the requirements contained in section 12586 of the california government code or any successor thereto.”

“Form 990 review process: the form 990 is prepared by an independent accounting firm based on the audited financial statements and information provided by the accounting department of the organization. The audit committee of apla health & wellness reviews a draft version of the form 990. Once the committee has accepted the draft version of the form 990, it is sent to all members of the board of directors for their comments. Following the review by the board of directors, the form 990 is filed with the irs.”

“Monitoring compliance with conflict of interest policy: prior to entering a proposed financial relationship with a director or officer, or a business controlled by a director or officer, the organization refers to and complies with the organization's conflict of interest policy. The organization requires annual disclosure statements to be completed by all directors and officers. The board assistant is responsible for ensuring all disclosure statements are submitted by the board members.”

“Executive compensation policy: the ceo and cfo are compensated by apla health & wellness. The board reviews and approves the compensation of the chief executive officer and other officers independently, without participation of interested parties. As part of the review, comparability data of similar type organizations is evaluated. The process is then documented by the board of directors.”

“Public disclosure: the organization's financial statements and forms 990 from the past three years are posted on the website at www.aplahealth.org. The governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available to the public upon request.”

“Organization's mission: these services are provided to all, but with a specific focus on low-income gay and bisexual men of color and transgender individuals living in los angeles county. Aplahw is a federally qualified health center that includes the gleicher/chen health center in south los angeles, the wilshire dental clinic downtown, behavioral health services at the david geffen center in mid-city, the long beach health center and the olympic health center in the fairfax-carthay circle neighborhood.”

“Federally qualified health center program: the david geffen center in koreatown offers behavioral health counseling services. The long beach health center offers enrollment assistance, primary care, prep and pep counseling and treatment, dental care, and behavioral health counseling services. The olympic health center provides primary medical care, hiv care, prep counseling and treatment, and behavioral health services. The agency treated 10,163 clients with 39,972 visits during the year ended june 30, 2020.”

“Home health program: additional major outcomes of the program include addressing addiction and mental illness which undermine stability, helping clients manage a vast array of co-occurring diseases and disorders, decreasing the risk of transmitting hiv and other sexually transmitted infections. The program served 205 clients during the year ended june 30, 2020.”

“Other program services: apla health & wellness housing support services provide the following services to clients: assistance with securing affordable, safe and permanent housing; financial assistance moving into a new home or apartment; resource referrals to programs that will provide assistance with utility bills, rent, or mortgages; education about tenants' rights and responsibilities and acting as a liaison between clients and property. During the year, the housing program served 503 clients. Apla health & wellness provides a number of other smaller programs to clients, including free confidential hiv counseling and testing; std screening and treatment; actively outreaching to the community at-risk for contracting hiv and aids with a variety of prevention-focused interventions; benefits counseling; services to those aging with hiv; prep/pep; health navigation; capacity building assistance; and research projects.”

“Joint cost allocation: the organization had total joint costs in fy 2020 of $637,231 to expand outreach focused on achieving health care equity and promoting well-being for the lgbt and other underserved communities and to raise funds. Of those costs, $427,145 was allocated to fundraising and $210,086 was allocated to program services. These expenses were not including on part ix, line 1-24 as they were direct costs related to special events, and have therefore been shown on part viii, line 8b.”