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Clinical Services

If you have questions or would like to make an appointment...
Phone: 315 464-1996

You do not need a referral from your physician to make an appointment for yourself.

Our Pediatric Designated HIV Center team provides HIV specialty care for patients from infancy through 21 years.

These children and adolescents include patients who:

  • Are newly diagnosed as HIV positive
  • Are preventing HIV through the use of PrEP
  • Have been exposed through at-risk behaviors
  • Are transferring their HIV care to the University Hospital Pediatric Designated AIDS Center
  • Have been perinatally (before birth) exposed to HIV
  • Have been exposed through sexual assault or needlestick injuries

Because we understand that comprehensive treatment for our patients means more than a clinic visit, our clinical services extend beyond our patients’ physical care.

Our services also include medical case management, mental health assessments and counseling, nutritional assessment and counseling, developmental testing, transitional services and adherence monitoring and counseling.

Our goal is to enable our children, adolescents and their families to successfully manage their health care in their home environment.

Adolescent/Young Adult Specialized HIV Care Center

We have created an adolescent clinic to meet the changing needs of our adolescent population. The adolescent clinic is located on 4 West at University Hospital and offers expanded services to our adolescent patients and their families. These services include:

  • Additional education and about HIV & STD transmission prevention, substance use and healthy relationships
  • Information on Partner Notification services
  • Confidential HIV testing
  • Confidential STD testing and treatment
  • Assistance developing self-health care behaviors
  • Independent living skills education
  • Preparation for Transition to adult care

We encourage adolescents and young adults who have questions about HIV and STDs, consider themselves at-risk, are sexually active or would like confidential HIV and STD testing to come in to the Specialized Care Center for assistance.

Adherence Monitoring and Counseling

Following your treatment plan is a very important part of staying healthy. Sometimes our children and teens have a difficult time sticking to their treatment plan. Life situations, attitudes and feelings can all contribute to having difficulty adhering to a treatment plan.

Through an adherence monitoring and counseling program, our providers help to identify the “roadblocks” to successful treatment adherence. We assist our patients and their families in identifying and overcoming these roadblocks to lead to improved treatment adherence and ultimately, a healthier lifestyle.

Transition Program

We believe it is important for our young patients to begin to learn self health care skills and self advocacy skills starting at an early age. Children with a chronic health condition grow up to become adults with a chronic health condition. These adults need to know how to effectively take charge of their health care concerns.

The first transition we work towards is the transition from children’s health care to adolescent health care. We educate our patients at an age appropriate level about healthy living and what they need to do to stay healthy. As these children become teens, we prepare them and their family to begin receiving their care in the Adolescent Clinic.

The second transition occurs as our oldest adolescents prepare to seek their care in the adult clinic. Before the move to adult services, our teens need to be prepared to advocate for their health care needs, including making and keeping their own appointments, filling prescriptions, taking medications as prescribed, using community support services, good decision making skills and healthy lifestyle choices. The team works on these and other self advocacy skills with our teens and families in the adolescent clinic.

Are you HIV positive and pregnant?

At the Pediatric Designated HIV Center, we see babies born to a mother who is HIV positive. If you are HIV positive and pregnant, it is important to contact the Center before you have your baby. We have important treatment information to give you that can affect you and your baby’s health.

  • Before your baby is born—with treatment, babies born to HIV positive mothers have a 1 to 2% chance of being infected. Without treatment, babies have a 25% chance of having HIV infection. While you are pregnant, your HIV doctor will decide the best treatment combination for you.
  • During delivery—you may receive additional medicine to help prevent your baby from becoming HIV infected.
  • After your baby is born—your baby will start receiving medicine right away. You will have to continue to give your baby medicine once you are home. You will be scheduled to bring your baby in for a clinic visit with one of our nurse practitioners.
  • Over the next year —you will bring your baby to the clinic between 4 and 6 times. At each visit the nurse practitioner will examine your baby and ask you questions about your baby’s health. At some visits, your nurse practitioner will draw blood from your baby. A special blood test will check your baby’s blood for HIV infection. During this time you will also need to have regular well baby visits with your pediatrician for general care and immunizations.
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