AHF Hosts Austin, Indiana Grand Opening of New Free HIV Clinic, AHF Pharmacy December 16th

Ribbon-cutting and Dedication Ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 16^th
at 11:45 a.m.; Community Reception & Luncheon to follow at nearby Church
of the New Covenant

New AHF facility will offer state-of-the-art medical care, including
specialty pharmacy services, to those living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis
C in Austin and Southern Indiana. Clinic and AHF Pharmacy are
opening on the heels of a significant outbreak of HIV in Austin that
unfolded over the past year driven primarily by intravenous drug use. To
date, outbreak has resulted in 184 HIV infections in city of 4,200.

AUSTIN, Ind.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a grand opening and
ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new AHF
Healthcare Center and AHF
Pharmacy, in Austin located at 25 West Main Street in conjunction
with Foundations
Family Medicine on Wednesday, December 16^th
at 11:45 a.m. The grand opening event will be followed by a
community reception and luncheon at the Church of the New Covenant (1054
Clay Street, Austin) from noon until 2 p.m. Both the AHF Healthcare
Center and AHF Pharmacy will operate Monday through Friday from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The new AHF facility will offer state-of-the-art medical care, including
specialty pharmacy services, to those living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis
C in Austin and Southern Indiana. The AHF Healthcare Center/Austin and
AHF Pharmacy are opening following a significant outbreak of HIV in
Austin that unfolded over the past year driven primarily by intravenous
drug use. To date, the outbreak has resulted in 184 HIV infections in
city of 4,200; it is also thought that as many as 90% of these 184
individuals may be co-infected with Hepatitis C.

When news of the outbreak and the extent of its reach first surfaced
last spring, AHF sent one of its mobile testing vans to Austin and began
offering free HIV testing. AHF first offered its support after learning
of the scope of the outbreak in the city and worked closely with
officials in Indiana, including, Austin Mayor Douglas Campbell,
Indiana State Representative Terry Goodin and Dr. William
Cooke, from Foundations Family Medicine, the City of Austin’s
only physician and who now also serves as Medical Director of
AHF’s Healthcare Center, located in the same building as Dr. Cooke’s
general medicine practice.

“The one organization that was there from the beginning and has stayed,
is AHF,” said Dr. William Cooke, founder and primary physician at
Foundations Family Medicine. “Bringing the expertise of a global
organization to Austin has been so valuable. I have been here for 10
years serving our community and this partnership has added great value
in a time of crisis.”

“When news of this fast-moving outbreak of HIV infections first surfaced
last winter, AHF offered to assist the State of Indiana, Scott County
and the City of Austin in helping the individuals directly affected by
this cluster of new infections,” said State Representative Terry
Goodin, Indiana’s House District 66. “Both Austin’s Mayor Douglas
Campbell and myself invited AHF to join our efforts and they have become
an essential partner in our community.”

“Today, we are privileged to work in partnership with Dr. Cooke, Mayor
Campbell, Representative Goodin and many others to address the situation
on the ground in Austin as we formally dedicate the new AHF Healthcare
Center/Austin and AHF Pharmacy on site at this location,” said Garith
Fulham, Public Policy & Advocacy Director for AHF’s Midwest region
and who has been working in Indiana on this issue over the past year.

“As this new AHF facility in Austin shows, AHF is nimble: we are ready
and willing to provide whatever assistance we may in emerging public
health situations such as unfolded in Austin and we will now work
closely with our partners to identify and link HIV-positive individuals
into medical care and lifesaving treatment,” said Michael Weinstein,
president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “We are honored to be able to
bring our years of experience in HIV/AIDS care around the country and
around the globe to this critical new HIV treatment clinic and
partnership in Austin.”

About AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS
healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care
and/or services to over 500,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in
the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia. For
more information, visit www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @AIDSHealthcare.

Contacts

INDIANA
Garith Fulham
Director, Midwest & New
England Public Policy & Advocacy
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
+1.401.837.0412
(cell)
gfulham@clevelandtaskforce.org
or
LOS
ANGELES
Ged Kenslea
Senior Director, Communications
AIDS
Healthcare Foundation
+1.323.791.5526 (cell)
+.323.308.1833
(work)
gedk@aidshealth.org