Mautner Joining with Whitman-Walker Health
Lesbian health organization announces WWH collaboration, executive director departure
Mautner Project: The National Lesbian Health Organization announced today that is has begun partnering with Whitman-Walker Health, the nonprofit community health center specializing in LGBT-sensitive health care and HIV/AIDS treatment, as part of a new collaboration aimed at expanding Mautner’s client base and providing it greater access funding.
”We are very excited that we’ll be working with Whitman-Walker Health,” Leslie Calman, the executive director of Mautner Project, said in a release announcing the partnership. ”It has a long, prestigious history of providing culturally sensitive health care services to Washington’s LGBT community. This collaboration will allow us to offer more critical services to a greater number of women who need those services throughout the region; it’s a natural fit.”
Under the collaboration, Mautner began some operations Monday out of the Whitman-Walker site on 14th Street NW with no interruption in services. Mautner’s health and wellness programs and other offerings – including smoking cessation, cancer screenings, gynecological care and legal support programs – will all be accessible through Whitman-Walker.
Announcing the move, Mautner cited the benefits of expanding its client base under the collaboration with Whitman-Walker, but also pointed to the diminishing number of grant opportunities available for direct-service activities.
”Grant dollars are more likely to flow to organizations that can provide research with a substantial base of clients and staff, and where overhead costs are held to a minimum,” reads Mautner’s announcement.
Calman also used the opportunity to announce that she has left Mautner to serve as the CEO of Engineering World Health, a global health organization. Taking over for Calman are Mautner’s current Director of Client Services Jacquetta Brooks, and Meghan Davies, Whitman-Walker’s director of community health.
”Mautner Project has been dedicated to the health and wellness of Washington’s lesbian community for over 20 years,” Whitman-Walker Health CEO Don Blanchon said in a statement regarding the new partnership. ”We’ve been looking for a way to expand our health care services to women and Mautner Project’s programs and reach within their community will help us fulfill that mission.”
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