HopeHealth offers help to people with HIV/AIDS locally

The federal government estimates that more than 1.4 million people in this country are living with HIV.

In Aiken and the surrounding area, they can get help at an AIDS Service Organization, or ASO, operated by HopeHealth, which is a community health center that got its start in Florence.

The Lower Savannah Region ASO has an Aiken address – 120 Darlington Drive – but it is very close to New Ellenton. Robert Croft is the site director.

HopeHealth also has ASO locations in Florence and Orangeburg.

“We deal primarily with people living with HIV and AIDS, but some have other infectious diseases like hepatitis C,” Croft said. “Years ago, if somebody had HIV, it was pretty much a death sentence, but if we can get people into care, keep them on medication and keep their lab work up to date, they can live fairly normal lives.”

Photos

Last year, the Lower Savannah Region ASO provided assistance to nearly 300 patients.

The ASO’s services include medical case management and financial help with medication costs, which “can easily be about $3,000 a month for some people,” said Shawn Maxwell, HopeHealth’s community relations coordinator.

For those who aren’t insured or are underinsured, federal assistance with health care expenses is available from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the 340B Drug Discount Program.

“We recently started holding a clinic here every Tuesday,” Croft said. “We have an infectious disease doctor who comes in and he sees patients from about 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. He is able to prescribe their medications, get the blood for their lab tests drawn and make referrals if they need to see a specialist.”

The ASO helps patients with transportation and housing.

“We also have a food pantry,” Croft said.

In addition, the ASO conducts free HIV testing.

“One of the things we are focusing on in this area is identifying people with HIV because there are a lot of them out there that don’t even know that they have it,” Croft said. “We are actively looking for more places that will let us have testing events, and we have memorandums of understanding with several sites.”

Another ASO effort involves HIV prevention.

“We distribute condoms and try to educate people on the use of condoms,” Croft said.

The ASO will be moving to a new location later this year.

“We are renovating a building on University Parkway in Aiken that is near Zaxby’s,” Croft said. “We hope to be in there by September or October. We are excited because it will give us more space for our staff and our clinic, which we want to expand.”

For more information about the Lower Savannah Region ASO call 803-643-1977.

Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.