Access to sexual health services expanded at San Diego AHF Healthcare Center in Hillcrest
SAN DIEGO (November 13, 2014) — AIDS Healthcare Foundation opened its newest Wellness Center last month in San Diego. The AHF San Diego Wellness Center is located in AHF’s San Diego Healthcare Center at 3940 4th Ave., Suite 140 San Diego, CA 92103 and is open Wednesdays, 4 – 8 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. More information can be found at www.freeSTDcheck.org or by calling (619) 516-8920.
The Wellness Center is designed to make testing for STDs convenient and to encourage regular sexual health screenings as part of routine health care for all sexually active people. While in some markets, AHF operates Wellness Centers that focus primarily on male sexual health, the San Diego Wellness Center will welcome both male and female patients. Services offered include: free HIV testing and screening and treatment for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.
“With the CDC reporting earlier this year that California ranks second in the U.S. for new syphilis cases and, more locally, that San Diego is outpacing the nation in new infections of sexually transmitted diseases, this additional access to sexual health services through our San Diego Men’s Wellness Center is right on time,” said Albert Ruiz, Director of Wellness Center Programs at AHF. “By offering expanded hours for free STD testing at our Wellness Center, we hope to eliminate many of the cost and scheduling barriers to receiving treatment and empower sexually active men and women in the San Diego community to make healthier choices.”
In operation since September and led by primary care provider Adam Zweig, M.D, the San Diego 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 34 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.
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.
AHF also operates Wellness Centers in California, Florida, Ohio, New York, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, as well as in Mexico City. Learn more about AHF Healthcare Centers at www.HIVcare.org, and more about AHF Pharmacy atwww.AHFpharmacy.org.
