<p>Chicago is in the middle of a quietly unfolding public health crisis.</p><p>New HIV diagnoses are&nbsp;<a class="Link" href="https://gtzillinois.hiv/" target="_blank" >rising</a>:&nbsp;818 Chicagoans were&nbsp;<a class="Link" href="https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cdph/infectious_disease/STI_HIV_AIDS/reports/2025/2024-HIV-Data-Brief_WAD.ax.pdf" target="_blank" >newly diagnosed</a>&nbsp;in 2024, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. That's a 12.5% increase over 2023 and nearly 30% higher than 2022.&nbsp;</p><p>The communities bearing the greatest burden are Black and Hispanic Chicagoans on the city's South and West sides, where structural inequities have long shaped&nbsp;health&nbsp;outcomes.&nbsp;And yet, at this critical moment, a bureaucratic failure has cut — and in some cases, altogether eliminated — funding to several established providers serving these very communities.</p><p>This is not a story about a shortage of federal dollars. It is a story about what happens when the process breaks down, and who gets left behind.&nbsp;</p><div class="RichTextSidebarModule Enhancement" data-module data-align-center><a class="AnchorLink" id="module-1f0000" name="module-1f0000"></a> <div class="RichTextSidebarModule-title">Commentary bug</div> <div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody"><h2>Commentary</h2></div> </div><p>Every&nbsp;year, CDPH <a class="Link" href="https://windycitytimes.com/2026/03/18/chicago-reshuffling-how-8m-in-hiv-funding-will-be-directed-after-grant-process-mismatch/" target="_blank" >distributes millions of dollars</a>&nbsp;in Ryan White <a class="Link" href="https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/about/parts-and-initiatives/part-a" target="_blank" >Part A</a> federal funding to HIV service providers through a competitive grant process.&nbsp;Ryan White, a federal program established in 1990, serves as the backbone of HIV care in the United States, providing essential services for people living with HIV who have no other means of accessing care.</p><p>The law&nbsp;<a class="Link" href="https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/ryanwhite/about-program/legislation-title-xxvi.pdf" target="_blank" >requires</a>&nbsp;that before CDPH issues requests for proposals, the Chicagoland HIV Integrated Planning and Action Council — the federally mandated planning body — first complete its priority setting and resource allocation process, determining how much funding goes to each service category.