Ribbon-cutting and Dedication Ceremony Friday, October 11, 2019 – 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Formal program and remarks start at 2:30 ppm
BRONX, NY (October 9, 2019) AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is pleased to announce that it is adding another new health care center delivering state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS medical care and services to patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, this time, with its first clinic in Bronx, New York where the need for care and services remains great. The site will also house an AHF Pharmacy.
The new AHF Wellness/Healthcare Center/Bronx will formally open with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, October 11, 2019 starting at 2:00 pm, located at 655 Morris Ave., Suite #2, Bronx, NY 10451.
The Bronx site will be open 5 days a week with medical care provided Mondays (9:00 am – 6:00 pm), Thursdays and Fridays (8:30 am – 5:30 pm) and pharmacy services Monday through Friday. In addition, Iris House, an AHF affiliate organization and one of the only HIV/AIDS organizations remaining in the greater New York City/New Jersey metropolitan area that focuses specifically on the needs of women living with HIV or AIDS, will have staff onsite five days per week to provide a range of comprehensive wrap-around services.
WHAT: GRAND OPENING & RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY for NEW HIV/AIDS CLINIC
AHF BRONX WELLNESS/HEALTHCARE CENTER and AHF PHARMACY
WHEN: FRIDAY, October 11, 2019 – 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Ribbon-cutting & formal remarks: 2:30 pm
WHERE: 655 Morris Avenue, Suite 2, Bronx, NY 10451 Tel: (347) 736-9046
WHO:
- Judith Sobowale, MD, AHF Bronx Wellness/Healthcare Center
- Michael Weinstein, AHF President
- Joseph Kerwin, Deputy Director, AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health
- Demetre Daskalaskis, MD, MPH, Deputy Commissioner, Disease Control
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) - Ingrid Floyd, Executive Director, Iris House
- Michael Wohlfeiler, MD, JD, Chief of Medicine, US for AHF
- Donna Tempesta, Northern Bureau Chief/VP Finance for AHF
- Marlene LaLota, MPH, Senior Regional Director, AHF
- Elder Antionettea Etienne, Love Alive International Sanctuary of Praise
Services provided at healthcare center will include primary medical care and case management (provided by another AHF affiliate, ACQC AIDS Center of Queens County) for HIV/AIDS patients and the primary medical provider at the AHF Bronx Healthcare Center will be Dr. Judith Sobowale, MD.
“The need for high quality, easily accessible medical care and services for HIV/AIDS patients in the Bronx has never been greater, with portions of the Bronx reporting some of the highest HIV and/or AIDS incidence and rates in greater New York,” said Dr. Judith Sobowale, MD, the medical provider who will be treating patients at the new AHF Bronx Healthcare Center, “I am honored to work for and with AHF as we expand the reach in delivering quality care and medical services to HIV/AIDS patients at this new, state-of-the-art facility.”
“Following our recent formal affiliation with AHF, we are excited to now partner in this new Bronx AHF Wellness/Healthcare Center, where Iris House will provide free comprehensive support services five days per week,” said Ingrid Floyd, Executive Director of Iris House. “As an agency that focuses on the particular needs of women living with HIV or AIDS in Greater New York for more than twenty-five years, we recognize the importance of this new, easily accessible facility being located in the Bronx, home to more than thirty-two percent of all HIV cases found in women in New York City.”
“Together with our Iris House partners, we are honored to dedicate this new AHF Wellness/Healthcare Center in the Bronx with an AHF Pharmacy soon to follow at this location,” said Donna Tempesta, VP Finance and Northern Bureau Chief for AHF. “The Bronx faces some challenges addressing its HIV/AIDS incidence and facilities like ours—which provide a one-stop model offering testing, linkage, medical care and services and pharmacy all in one location—can go a long way helping patients access and remain in care and treatment.”
“AHF knows firsthand the importance of supporting patients and clients with local grassroots community-based services—including medical care, treatment and pharmacy services—in the community, such as those our new Bronx facility will offer,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “We’ve found our one-stop model to be key to ensuring better health outcomes for patients and we hope and expect this will hold true in the Bronx, which has been disproportionately affected by the epidemic.”
HIV/AIDS in the Bronx
According to the ‘HIV Surveillance Mid-Year Report, 2018’ prepared by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) based on data received by September 30, 2018, and reported as of June 30, 2018, of the 126,547 people living with HIV in NYC by that time, there were …
- 30,545 people living with HIV in the Bronx, or 24.1% of all HIV cases in NYC (second only to cases in Manhattan)
- Between January 1 and June 30, 2018, 217 new HIV cases were found in the Bronx (22.1% of all new cases in NYC)
- 39 of these Bronx residents (18.8%) had a concurrent AIDS diagnosis, meaning they were coming late into the system for care and treatment
- 32.9% (11,499) of all cases of HIV among women in NYC (34,839) were found in the Bronx, while 20.8% (19,096) of the 91,708 cases identified in men in NYC were found in the Bronx.
AHF currently operates 66 other Healthcare Centers in 15 states as well as one in the District of Columbia and one in Puerto Rico. Each Healthcare Center provides medical programs tailored to the specific needs of asymptomatic and symptomatic HIV/AIDS individuals from qualified medical & support professionals.
