Hospital District's HIV/AIDS Clinic Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Ten years after a rocky but optimistic start, the Harris County Hospital District's Thomas Street Clinic stands as a model for the rest of the country.

To celebrate 10 years of excellence in patient care, a re-dedication was held at the Thomas Street Clinic.

The clinic opened its doors on May 22, 1989, amid concerns that its location would pose a problem for many of its 800 patients and that there were not adequate funds to sustain it. The facility at 2015 Thomas Street, just north of downtown Houston, was criticized as being inconvenient because the nearest Metro bus stop was three blocks away on Main Street. But it wasn't long after the clinic opened that Metro added a bus route with a drop-off at the doorstep of the Thomas Street Clinic. And through a series of federal grants and a budgetary commitment by the Hospital District, the clinic today provides state-of-the-art care for 5,700 patients, which is 60 percent of the AIDS patients in Harris County.

The HCHD Thomas Street Clinic is jointly staffed by Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

In today's health care cost-conscious and profit-driven environment, many of the 900,000 Americans living with AIDS cannot afford expensive drug therapies and are not receiving the best available medical treatment. Thomas Street Clinic, meanwhile, continues to receive constant praise for the care it renders to all its patients, regardless of their financial situation. "The Thomas Street staff is delighted and very proud to be referred to as a leader and role model for HIV/AIDS clinics around the nation," says Carolyn Barrett, Thomas Street director. "But most of all, on this 10-year anniversary we reflect on the hundreds of patients we have helped and on those who have gone on."

Thomas Street's 10th anniversary activities included an opening ceremony on May 24th on the steps of the clinic with Hospital District President and CEO Lois Moore, County Judge Robert Eckels, County Commissioner El Franco Lee and City Councilmen Felix Fraga and Michael Yarbrough taking part. A special educational program called Strength for Living, emphasizing HIV anemia awareness and offering free hemoglobin testing was featured throughout the week.

- LARRY JOHNSON

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmc-info@tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/06_15_99/page_02.html