Wednesday, April 16, 2025
4/16/2025
Ryan White Part C Outpatient EIS Program - The Albany Medical College’s (AMC) AIDS Program requests Part C continuation funding to provide high quality, patient-centered and comprehensive primary care services to people with HIV within a twenty-county region including the mid-Hudson, Capital District, Adirondack and Catskill Mountain regions. The counties served include Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren and Washington. The amount requested is $953,330 per year for a three-year project period. In our region, HIV prevalence disproportionately impacts men who have sex with men (MSM) and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. The HIV epidemiology is similar among new diagnoses, with a particular impact on those ages 25-34 as well. The model of care utilized by the AIDS Program involves an HIV interdisciplinary care team providing individualized coordinated care so that optimum health outcomes can be achieved, including viral suppression. AMC’s AIDS Program provides targeted counseling, testing and referral, HIV primary care, women's health, adherence services, case management, nutrition services, substance abuse services and mental health counseling. AMC’s AIDS Program will also ensure that patients have access to needed support services, such as medical transportation, health education/risk reduction, and psychosocial support services to further assist them in achieving optimum health outcomes. The proposed project targets individuals with and at risk for acquiring HIV with emphasis on serving the most vulnerable, impoverished and high-risk behavior populations. 78% of our patients received government-funded health insurance, such as Medicaid and/or Medicare. Most of our patients live below the poverty line, which impacts their ability to access medical care consistently. This is largely due to housing, food instability and the lack of transportation. In addition to living with HIV, many of our clients are also diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Part C funds will also be used for the Quality Improvement Program, allowing AMC to continue to utilize clinical quality measures geared towards new patient retention, semi-annual retention, and viral load suppression. The Quality Improvement Program will continue to utilize clinical quality measures geared towards new patient retention, semi-annual retention, and viral load suppression. These measures will include the percentage of newly diagnosed positive patients who received an initial HIV clinical provider appointment within three days of the confirmatory test, the percentage of new patients that attended an appointment with a clinical provider every 3 months during the first two years, the percentage of patients who had attended an appointment every 6 months over a 24 month period and the percentage of patients with a most recent viral load of less than 200. In addition, funds will help support the activities of the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), which is structured to provide input into the program design, implementation, and evaluation.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).