Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PI Wellness Center) was formed in 1997 by the merger of the two leading Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS service organizations in San Francisco: Asian AIDS Project (AAP) and Living Well Project (LWP), founded in 1987 and 1989 respectively. AAP was the first program in the United States to provide HIV/AIDS prevention education and risk reduction services targeting Asian and Pacific Islander communities. LWP was the first gay-identified Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS program in the US and the first to provide case management, mental health, and buddy services to Asians and Pacific Islanders living with HIV/AIDS.

The main purpose behind mergers is the formation of a synergistic effect. A merger is successful only if adds value. The main reason for merger here, was to “broaden the net” of AAP’s ongoing ED search.

The pre merger feasibility conducted resulted in some helpful lessons regarding leadership, staff and management issues, and communication in the merger implementation process. One of the control mechanism used for the merger process was the availability of a stable management team. There was proper coordination and peer guidance and counseling available at every stage. Every attempt was made to be consistent and fair, to communicate decision-making processes and rationale for changes. Even though there existed two distinct structures and cultures, the goal as a management team was to decide and communicate like a new organization; to act like a new organization.

The Interim Management Team did act on the right things — they put together a management structure and decided on the critical policies and procedures for the new organization to function consistently, respected the board mandate to maintain staff, and redeployed duplicate positions. They left the board with a merged budget, ongoing fundraising activities, and an organizational reserve. Just as important, the Interim Management Team made a huge effort to hear people out about the implementation process, to come to decisions together, and to speak as one.

The Interim Management Team made a good decision to shuffle the departments, so there was a logical clustering of functions. Staff needs to be involved and questioned as what matters most to them. At any step of merger implementation or planning, people need to be acknowledged first. The approach was to make the services more responsive to the community.

In short the merger implementation control mechanism clearly focused on the stake- holders’ issues, including the internal and external stake holders both and it was a clear well communicated strategy.