The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin opened an HIV medical home in Madison Tuesday, coinciding with World AIDS Day.
The facility offers integrated medical and mental health care to HIV patients without regard for ability to pay, ARCW Vice President of Government and Public Relations Bill Keeton said.
The facility, located on Williamson Street, will rely heavily on a partnership with UW Health, which will provide physicians who will work with the home’s own staff nurses and nurse practitioners.
Drs. Ryan Westergaard and Robert Striker, both from UW Health, have been particularly crucial to the partnership and to the establishment of the home, Keeton said.
In addition to treatments for HIV-positive patients, the home will offer pre-exposure prophylaxis to individuals at high risk of contracting HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis is a treatment that seeks to protect individuals, usually the partners of HIV-positive individuals, against the virus.
While pre-exposure prophylaxis can be seen as controversial due to the imperfect efficacy of any medical treatment, Keeton said he believes it should not be a controversial treatment.
“I think we have a moral imperative to make sure that anyone who wants this service and who is otherwise clinically eligible to receive it has access to it,” Keeton said. “[Pre-exposure prophylaxis] is just one tool in the toolbox. We still encourage individuals to engage in safe sexual practices, safe injection practices.”
Keeton said he believes that the greatest challenge to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the area is the stigma the virus carries. He spoke of the “feelings of isolation” to which the virus’ stigma can lead to.
“There are things that are difficult for communities to fully get their heads and their hands and their hearts around at some level,” Keeton said. “Stigma is still a huge barrier for people with HIV, and it’s a barrier for them accessing services.”
