Lynn Varricchio Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS records

Lynn Varricchio was a major figure in health care planning in Rochester, New York and across the Finger Lakes region for 40 years. Born in 1947, Varricchio joined the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency (FLHSA) in 1979, where she focused on long-term care issues. She is noted for her work leading the reform of New York State's Certificate of Need requirements regarding nursing home care for Medicaid recipients. Her advocacy led to a state requirement that nursing homes admit a fair share of Medicaid patients - one for every private-pay patient. She also led advocacy in the mid-1990s to require nursing homes to provide care for people with developmental disabilities and neuro-behavioral problems. Her work on long-term care and care for the aging included supporting the Monroe County Long Term Care Council, Monroe County No Wrong Door Implementation Team, and the Sage Commission. Her work led to the creation of a dozen homes for the dying across the region - small, two-bed hospice-like facilities with volunteer staff and nursing care from home health agencies.

The following additional biography was provided by Evelyn Bailey, Historian at the Out Alliance:

In 1977, Lynn was getting her Masters in Public Health at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. By 1983, Lynn had become a full blown activist. A founding member of Catholics Against Nuclear Arms, Lynn participated in leafletting workers at the Seneca army depot in Romulus, NY, was a part of the Berrigan’s Plowshares Movement in the early ‘80’s when they poured blood at the Pentagon, and found the land for the Women’s Peace Encampment for Peace and Justice in Romulus, NY.

Earning an MA in Theology from St. Bernard’s Insititute only served to deepen Lynn’s thirst for equality and justice, which fueled her activism and professional life as the Common Ground Health (then the Finger lakes Health Systems Agency) as Chronic Care Planner for the nine counties of the Finger Lakes region in Rochester, N.Y., and as Board Member and then Chair of the Rochester Area Task Force On AIDS for 10 years. Lynn retired in 2018 from Common Ground Health. Former colleagues describe Lynn as the “conscience of the agency”. As an activist and a leader in the community, Lynn’s mantra was advocating for underserved and at risk populations.

In the fall of 1983, New York State reacted to the AIDS epidemic by starting the AIDS Institute of the New York State Health Department. The Institute created a series of regional agencies to carry out its mission across New York State. In the Rochester area, this led to the creation of RATFA in November of 1983, under the leadership of Dr. William Valenti and Jackie Nudd. By 1985, RATFA began providing information on AIDS testing to the community. In 1986, it convened working groups on community education, long term care, and legislative issues. 1987 saw the first officer elections, with Mark Merkens elected chair. In 1990, the death of Ryan White led to expanded Federal funding for AIDS resources; RATFA became the Ryan White Care Network coordinator for the region in September 1991, with FLHSA as lead agency. This led to a huge expension of RATFA's scale and capabilities, and the Task Force had over 70 member agencies by the end of 1993.

By 1996, RATFA created its first Case Management Plan. The Men of Color Health Awareness Project (MOCHA) also began that year. In 2001, RATFA was told it would receive $834,000 in Emerging Communities funding; these funds never materialized. In 2004, a by-laws revision separated RATFA from the Rochester Ryan White Care Network. RATFA's efforts would henceforth focus on community education and outreach. The organization continued to provide community education, advocacy, and to administer a regional Service Delivery Plan. In 2010, budget cuts led to the dissolution of the HIV CARE network. RATFA survived as a member-driven not for profit agency, but its overall visibility in the community henceforth declined.