About Our Sponsors
qnotes is pleased to partner with Affinity Health Center, Rosedale Medical, Amity Medical Group and RAIN in presenting this special section, “Life, Positively,” in recognition of World AIDS Day.
A Plan to End the HIV Epidemic in Mecklenburg County
Actor Mark Patton: Living with HIV Is About ‘More Than Taking Medication’
Carolinas AIDS Service Organizations and Agencies
Presenting Sponsors
Affinity Health Center
Patient-Centered Medical Home
Affinity Health Center is a community health center dedicated to taking care of those who are most vulnerable in our community — individuals and families living in poverty and people who would otherwise be unable to afford healthcare or unwelcome in traditional healthcare settings. We take care of the whole person, recognizing that good health is not just about a doctor’s visit and a prescription. At Affinity, we want to be your healthcare home — the place where you get your medical care, your dental care, your behavioral health care, your medications, and education and support for being healthy — the place where you can expect compassionate care without worrying about how you’re going to pay for it or whether you will be accepted for who you are.
Affinity Health Center is a Patient-Centered Medical Home that provides primary care for all ages, HIV specialty care, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV), PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV), Hepatitis C treatment, contraceptive care, mental health counseling and dental care. All services are available on a sliding fee scale. We also accept Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. Our on-site pharmacy, specializing in HIV, Hepatitis C, PrEP and PEP, offers discounted medications for uninsured patients. Comprehensive services are available at our main site located at 455 Lakeshore Pky., Rock Hill, SC 29730. Primary care services are also available at our York and Clover sites. Women’s health services are available at our Fort Mill site. Visit affinityhealthcenter.org to learn more about our services and locations.
Our beginnings as Catawba Care, an AIDS Service organization, still show strong in our focus on HIV specialty care, case management, and peer services. We invest in prevention of HIV, Hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections by providing prevention education and screening. This includes one-on-one education, “Many Men Many Voices” groups for African-American men who have sex with men, and group educational presentations throughout our service area, as well as free confidential walk-in HIV, Hepatitis C, and STD testing every Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Please join Affinity Health Center for our World AIDS Day event at Rock Grove AME Zion Church (1460 Margaret St., Rock Hill) on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 10:30 a.m. Please visit affinityhealthcenter.org to learn more about our commitment to care with compassion, dignity and respect for all people.
Rosedale Medical
The Difference is in the Details
With World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, we always reflect on what we are doing for the HIV Community, how we are doing it, and how we can improve. Rosedale Medical is a private practice that offers a unique, comfortable, and comprehensive model to care that is not found everywhere. The difference is in the details.
Rosedale Medical is not just an “HIV Clinic.” We offer everything in a convenient, friendly, one-stop environment so that someone with HIV can be comfortable in their own skin; all the time being assured that they are getting the most holistic approach to their overall health. We have a staff of medical personnel in addition to our providers that share years of valuable experience that sets them apart from many other teams in the field.
We asked Laurie Youron, our director of Client Services and she said this about Rosedale. “We offer a no-judgment zone for those that may have felt that they have been let down before when they were accessing care.” That is so important for anybody in the world today, but especially for someone facing an HIV diagnosis in the South. This hits home to most of them.
Dee Dee Richardson, a patient advocate at Rosedale Medical says; “patients love it here because we meet them where they are.” So many of the patients we see are all struggling with some barrier to their care, whether it be food insecurity, addiction, lack of transportation, housing issues, mental health problems or family issues; the list goes on. Rosedale Medical now has a nonprofit in place, Dudley’s Place at Rosedale Medical, so that, hopefully, when a patient has a need that we can fill, it will help make their journey to better health easier.
Over and over we have been told that the staff at Rosedale Medical is what makes the difference to our patients. Our staff is as diverse as our patient base; coming from all backgrounds and situations, everyone of the staff has a story that helps them relate. Some of our staff are openly HIV positive, many know or have a positive family member, staff members have children in the LGBTQ community as well. Talking to Roseanne Sanders, the practice manager, we asked her what she felt sets her team apart from others. “Being a smaller, team-based staff and office we have more time to get to know the patients, their needs, and in turn it gives us more time to spend with them and help them meet their goals alongside their providers,” says Sanders. Roseanne also mentioned the fact that the staff is prepared to work as a team, and they understand that no one person can do everything. Therefore, she likes to initiate cross-training on positions within the organization.
All in all, although we celebrate and honor World AIDS Day every year, the owner and Medical Director, Dr. Fred Cruickshank, has some alternative feelings about it. Cruickshank said, “it’s great for the community to recognize World AIDS Day, it brings great attention to the cause. However, every day is World AIDS Day to me until we solve this health crisis.”
Red Ribbon Sponsor
Amity Medical Group
Amity Medical Group (AMG) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that proudly serves the Charlotte community in providing medical care and linkage to community services to serve your daily needs. With lead providers, Dr. Richard Wynn, M.D. and J. Wesley Thompon, MHS, PA-C, AAHIVS, DFAAPA, AMG have partnered with Rx Clinic Pharmacy to establish an on-site pharmacy to further enhance their ability to serve all of the patients’ needs.
AMG providers include board-certified family practice providers, HIV specialists, GLMA certified providers, WPATH certified transcare providers, PrEP specialists, diabetic specialists, and pharmacogenomic specialists.
In less than four years, AMG has grown to include a physician, multiple physician assistants and nurse practitioners, clinical pharmacists and a staff of 20. Thousands of patients now receive comprehensive care at two locations, one in East Charlotte at 6010 East W.T. Harris Blvd., and the other in South Charlotte at 10508 Park Rd., Suite 130. AMG also accepts new patients daily.
AMG, in addition to its on-site pharmacy, also provides laboratory services, radiology, psychological counseling, medication management by clinical pharmacists, Medicare Annual Wellness visits and we are a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) where all your medical needs are coordinated by your primary care providers. We accept almost all medical insurances including Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, Ryan White, and we have a generous sliding fee scale that helps both with office visits, labs, radiology and prescriptions at our in-house pharmacy.
Supporting Sponsor
RAIN
RAIN envisions ending HIV in our community. Our mission is to empower persons living with HIV and those at risk to live fully and stigma-free. RAIN serves youth, adults and seniors living with HIV and those at risk by providing medical case management, a specialized program for youth ages 13-24 called Empowering Positive Youth, on-site mental health counseling, health insurance benefits advocacy, early intervention services for those who have fallen out of care, PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis). The goal of all of RAIN’s programs is to reduce the number of new cases of HIV through prevention. Treatment as Prevention helps people living with HIV achieve viral suppression, thereby achieve U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable). Primary prevention efforts (PrEP and PEP) focus on identifying and connecting people at risk for HIV. All programs are provided in English and Spanish.