Newswise — Loyola University Health System has now expanded free HIV testing to patients at the Loyola Center for Health at River Forest. “HIV affects people of all ages, all races and all economic backgrounds; it is not just an urban phenomenon but exists in the suburbs,” says Jerry Goldstein, research coordinator, Loyola University Health System. ”The more people tested, the earlier the detection and the faster treatment is offered to save lives and prevent the spread of infection.”
Funded by a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) research grant in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), select patients in the Loyola ED and immediate care centers are offered a free HIV test.
“We also offer HIV testing at our Maywood emergency department (ED) and also at Loyola Burr Ridge and Park Ridge Immediate Care Centers,” says Beatrice Probst, MD, medical director of the immediate care centers at Loyola University Health System. Expanding testing to the Loyola immediate care center in River Forest started December 2, the day after World AIDS Day.
“In 2014 alone, Loyola’s testing program identified five new HIV infected patients. One was acute HIV, meaning the individual had recently acquired the infection and is at the most infectious stage,” says Probst.
Since January, 2014, over 11,000 patients were offered the free HIV test at the Loyola emergency department in Maywood and at Loyola’s Burr Ridge immediate care center. “and over 2400 patients agreed to be tested for HIV and with the expansion of our program locations, we anticipate high numbers for 2015,” says Probst. Patients who are diagnosed with HIV are referred to Loyola’s HIV clinic for treatment.
The HIV Clinic has been treating patients at Loyola for more than two decades. “The multidisciplinary Loyola HIV Clinic has been continuously funded by the federal government through the Ryan White Care Act allowing provision of care to uninsured patients. Through that program and other health insurance we treat over 400 HIV patients annually,” says Paul O’Keefe, MD, medical director, HIV clinic. The Loyola HIV Clinic also regularly conducts clinical research trials.
The Student Training in Approach to Research (STAR) program at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine supported the initial pilot for free HIV testing at Loyola in 2011.
In 2013, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force gave a level A recommendation to screen for HIV in adolescents and adults, understanding the importance of early identification of infection and the role that the emergency department can provide in the process.
RSS