The Florida Department of Health's Bureau of HIV/AIDS will replace some of the more than $1.2 million cut from Palm Beach County's Ryan White money, county health department Director Dr. Jean Malecki announced Wednesday.

After learning of the unprecedented 13 percent cut in federal aid, Malecki said she immediately went to the state to fill the resulting gaps in medical case management, food provisions, and mental health and substance abuse counseling. The $250,000 in state money was all that was available, Malecki said.

Also on Wednesday, Florida members of Congress met with federal Health and Human Services officials to discuss the cut. After the meeting, US Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Miramar) said Palm Beach County should try to get more money from the state, since it will not receive any additional money from the federal government. Hasting said he was disappointed by the meeting, which was also attended by Reps. Robert Wexler (D-Delray Beach), E. Clay Shaw (R-Fort Lauderdale) and Mark Foley (R-Fort Pierce).

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, which distributes Ryan White money to US metropolitan areas, the cut was because of shortcomings in the county's grant application. Hastings said he was told Wednesday that the county's application scored 43rd out of the 51 metropolitan applications received.

"I find it astounding that there is no appeals process," said Hastings. "In spite of the fine explanation, I still don't understand how cities that have had decreases in their numbers of HIV and AIDS patients got increases in funding, while Palm Beach County, which continues to see more patients, got cut."

Malecki promised the county will work harder to ensure that it gets the money it needs for HIV/AIDS patients. "We have to learn a lesson from this and be more diligent in writing these grants," she said. "We have a major epidemic on our hands. We cannot afford to lose money. This will not happen again."

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