Source: TapInto.Net New Jersey
Jersey City Medical Center, a facility of RWJBarnabas Health, has received a $630,000 Elixir grant from the State of New Jersey to provide HIV education, treatment, and community outreach to Hudson County-area clients.
The Center for Comprehensive Care (CCC) at Jersey City Medical Center received the Elixir grant for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, which began on July 1. The Center provides individuals living with HIV in Hudson County with access to a multidisciplinary team that provides medical, case management, and supportive services.
The funds will be used to provide ridesharing for new and existing clients without the means to get to appointments for HIV treatment and PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, that can reduce a person’s chance of getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. The funds will also be used to increase staffing for case management and expand office hours until 9 p.m. two days each week to improve access to HIV care. The Center will also increase its community outreach efforts to raise awareness about the importance of knowing one’s HIV status and to link community members to resources for HIV prevention and treatment offered at the CCC.
“New therapies to treat HIV are available for residents of Hudson County at the Center for Comprehensive Care to help address what continues to be a global health challenge,” said Adriana Grigoriu, MD, Chief of Infectious Disease at Jersey City Medical Center. “The continuum of care provided by the CCC fulfills a need to stop new HIV infections in our community and ensures that everyone has immediate access to HIV treatment.”
“The number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in 2022 has doubled compared to last year. The grant allows us to improve access to HIV prevention and treatment, utilizing innovative interventions, such as expanded case management hours and ridesharing. The sooner people are diagnosed and get access to HIV treatment, the sooner they can achieve HIV viral load suppression or undetectable status. That’s why access to HIV care right away is crucial,” said Tri Nguyen, administrative director at the Center for Comprehensive Care. Having an undetectable HIV viral load can help prevent HIV transmission – ultimately, reducing new HIV infections, he added.
The state’s Department of Health awards the Elixir grant to community-based networks that deliver high-quality, comprehensive HIV and sexually transmitted disease services.
To learn more about JCMC’s Center for Comprehensive Care, visit https://www.rwjbh.org/landing-pages/jcmc-comprehensive-care-center/