Power of SUNY

SUNY Upstate AIDS Center Expansion of Care Funded by DOH

In July 2010, the New York State Department of Health awarded the Designated AIDS Center at Upstate Medical University a five-year $662,500 grant to expand the center's capacity to provide hepatitis C care and treatment to patients who are infected with HIV and hepatitis C.

The center is using the money to expand the hours of its services for mental health, alcohol-substance abuse and nutrition counseling. These services are in addition to the center's medical care and social work services.

Approximately 25 percent of patients at the center are co-infected with hepatitis C and approximately 60 percent have a mental health or substance use diagnosis or are mentally ill and chemically addicted.

The SUNY Upstate Designated AIDS Center provides outpatient and inpatient medical care for HIV infected people from the 15-county Central New York area. It is staffed by Infectious Disease physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and licensed social workers. Patient care is provided through a medical case management model with the nurse practitioner as case manager. Each patient is provided with continuity of care through the same case manager, physician and a social worker.