SAN DIEGO – AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) proudly expanded its support of public health in the San Diego community by opening its first specialized HIV clinic in the area Sept. 9, offering specialized, client-centered HIV/AIDS care through its Hillcrest location. A private reception and ribbon cutting was hosted at the clinic Tuesday Sept. 9.
The Healthcare Center is under the same roof as San Diego’s AHF Pharmacy, a full-service pharmacy where 96 cents of every dollar earned through filling any prescription supports AHF’s specialized HIV/AIDS medical services both locally and in 36 countries around the world. The AHF Pharmacy – located at 3940 4th Avenue in Suite 150 – has been serving the community since 1987, and was one of the first pharmacies in the nation to fill prescriptions for AZT, one of the game-changing AIDS treatments that began to slow the death rate during the AIDS crisis of the early 1990s. AHF welcomed the pharmacy into its network of sites in August 2012, and the San Diego pharmacy team has been proudly serving the Hillcrest community for two years under the leadership of Brandon Patchett, Pharm D.
The new healthcare center that opened Tuesday is led by primary care provider a Southern California native with a Harvard education and a medical degree from the University of California San Diego who has been serving the San Diego community since 1992 as a physician at the Scripps Medical Group. Beginning Oct. 8, AHF will also be offering free testing and treatment for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis to San Diego men through its soon-to-open AHF San Diego Men’s Wellness Center, which will be housed in the same location as the healthcare center and pharmacy.
According to a report from the County of San Diego HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Unit, there were 1,819 HIV diagnoses between 2007 and 2011, 91% of which occurred in men. Though the African-American community carries the heaviest HIV burden in the county, 43% of the 1,819 recent diagnoses were white, 36% were Hispanic, and 15% were black.
“I am very excited to be part of such a dedicated health care team,” Dr. Zweig said of the new healthcare center. “Our goal is to provide caring, high quality medical care for the community.”
Learn more about AHF Healthcare Centers at www.HIVcare.org, and more about AHF Pharmacy at www.AHFpharmacy.org. More information about AHF Men’s Wellness Centers can be found at www.freeSTDcheck.org.
To view further pictures form the opening ceremony visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/aidshealth/sets/72157647014628389/
