A 1.12 Million Milestone on National HIV Testing Day

	LaRay Brown, HHC Senior VP, 2nd from right, joined Douglas A. Michels, OraSure Pres. & CEO, center, at NASDAQ. (Photo: © 2012, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.)

As part of National HIV Testing Day and in recognition of HHC’s ongoing leadership in this area, HHC Senior Vice President Laray Brown participated in the ringing of the opening bell at the NASDAQ Marketsite in Times Square on June 27. HHC has now tested 1.12 million New Yorkers for HIV since 2005, when the public hospitals and health centers began offering screening as a routine part of medical care for patients ages 13 to 64.

“HIV testing continues to be vital in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said HHC President Alan D. Aviles. “By making voluntary testing available in as many settings as possible, and offering it as a routine medical screening, we are helping New Yorkers who are negative to stay negative and helping those who are positive to access the medical care they need.”

At the NASDAQ event, HHC was the guest of OraSure Technologies, the company that makes the HIV rapid testing kits used to test most HHC patients.

HHC is the largest provider of HIV primary care in New York City and serves about 40 percent of patients in care in the city. Since 2005, HHC has tested 1,124,686 New Yorkers for HIV and diagnosed 11,490 HIV positive individuals. Ninety percent of those who test positive are linked to care within 90 days of diagnosis, improving their health and the health of the community. The availability of rapid HIV tests allowed HHC to expand testing seven years ago to emergency departments, inpatient areas, outpatient clinics including dental clinics, and other nontraditional areas.

July 2012