The University of Nebraska Medical Center is one of seven sites in the
nation to receive a three-year federal grant to provide services in Nebraska
to those at risk for or infected with the human immunodeficiency virus
or AIDS.
A total of nearly $2.2 million was awarded to the seven institutions
through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. UNMC
received $250,000.
The act was signed into law to improve the quality and availability
of care for people with HIV/AIDS and their families. The act is named after
the Indiana teenager, Ryan White, who became an active public educator
on HIV/AIDS after he contracted the disease. He died in 1990, the same
year the legislation was passed.
There have been 949 reported cases of AIDS in Nebraska since 1983 and
an estimated 2,500 people in the state who are HIV-positive.
The programs goal is to increase comprehensive services to people of
low income in rural underserved areas of Nebraska, with an emphasis on
Latinos and those living in rural areas. The program is designed to provide
assistance to Nebraska residents who are ineligible for Medicaid, insurance,
or coverage by a third-party payer.
The grant will reach out to people with medical, educational, and psychosocial
services designed to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS. It also will
focus on those who cannot receive services due to barriers such as finances,
language, distance, lack of health insurance and access to specialists.
Susan Swindells, M.D., medical director of the UNMC HIV Clinic, estimated
that the program may reach 20 to 30 newly diagnosed eligible people a year,
in addition to offering more services to those who already are being seen.
Daniel Cobos, an HIV clinic nurse who is bilingual, will be the project
coordinator.
In greater Nebraska, the grant will allow for quarterly visits to St.
Francis Medical Center in Grand Island by a team of health professionals
from UNMC and Nebraska Health System. The team
includes Cobos, Elizabeth Lien, M.D., Ann Fitzgerald, a nurse practitioner,
and Harry Naasz, a case manager in UNMCs infectious diseases section of
the internal medicine department.
The UNMC/NHS health professionals will see patients in the St. Francis
Medical Center Cancer Clinic. Among the services provided by the
grant will be coverage for HIV-related medications, HIV testing, physician
visits for HIV/AIDS care, dental care, mental health services, and diagnostic
testing.
The UNMC HIV Clinic has been serving people with HIV infection for 12
years, and more than half the AIDS cases in Nebraska have been reported
by UNMC.
In addition to UNMC, the other sites receiving grants included Richmond,
Ind., Portland, Maine, Biloxi, Miss., Columbus, Ohio, Memphis, Tenn., and
Arroyo, Puerto Rico.
For more information, contact Cobos at UNMC at (402) 559-5750.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has
established itself as one of the countrys leading centers for cancer research
and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $34 million in
research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually.
In addition, UNMCs educational programs are responsible for training more
health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.