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THE PATH CENTER

OF THE BROOKLYN HOSPITAL CENTER

Providing State-of-the-Art HIV Care

To Women of Color

Most of the clients served by The PATH Center are people of color, and half are women. PATH, therefore, gives high priority to the needs of HIV-positive women of color.

“PATH,” short for Program for AIDS Treatment and Health, is the HIV service of The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

PATH has two primary service locations:

PATH at the Caledonian Health Center, 100 Parkside Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11226, on the corner of St. Paul Place and Parkside Avenue, across the street from Prospect Park in Central Brooklyn.

PATH at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Main Campus, 121 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.

All PATH services can be accessed through our central phone number: 718/940-5930 (alternative number: 718/250-6559). Services are available 5 days a week, Monday through Friday, with late hours on Thursday.

PATH’s Services to Assist Women of Color

HIV-positive women of color face many challenges.

As women, they face special health issues: HIV brings with it an increased risk of gynecological problems, for example. Health challenges may be further increased when an HIV-positive woman is pregnant. And, of course, women have great concerns for their children—present and future.

The stigma of HIV can be compounded by racism.

For women with families, coordinating the care of a child, a spouse, extended family, and one’s own care can be daunting. Often, because women must run from place to place to obtain services, the woman’s care may take “last place” and be neglected.

The needs of HIV-positive women of color are compounded if the woman is from another nation. She may experience barriers of language and culture. She may confront legal and immigration issues, at a time when she needs to focus on the health care needs of herself and her family.

Most HIV-positive women of color in the United States are low-income. Poverty makes it difficult to establish the basics, such as housing and nutrition, that make for a healthy life.

The various systems that an HIV-positive woman must negotiate—the medical system, the social services system, the school system, the legal system, etc.—are complex. Women need expert guidance and advocacy—as anyone would—to step through the complicated process of obtaining essential services.

PATH has been designed to address these complex needs. The program is a Designated AIDS Center of the New York State Department of Health and, as such, offers comprehensive, high-quality medical and psychosocial care to HIV-positive women of color. PATH is also supported by the federal Ryan White program, and is funded by New York State as an HIV Family- Centered Care Program and an HIV Pediatric Center of Excellence.

This support allows PATH to offer a broad range of services to HIV-positive women, children and families, in one place, at one time. Services include:

State-of-the-art HIV medical care for adults, children and adolescents, as well as medical care to the children of HIV-positive adults, even if the children do not have HIV.

Case management to coordinate care and access entitlements.
Nutrition for adults, children and families.
Haitian HIV Primary Care Initiative geared to recent immigrants from Haiti (services are provided in Creole or English by medical, nursing and case management staff).
Hepatitis C Co-Infection Clinic, every Friday at both sites (see locations above).
ObGyn services incorporated into HIV clinic.
Dental clinic for adults and children, with or without HIV.
Family Program: family-centered care, including HIV Pediatric Center of Excellence, provides care to he entire HIV-affected family: parents, children, teens (including siblings who are HIV-negative; one stop shopping for the whole family).

· Substance use counseling by a CASAC (Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor)

· Prevention with Positives, funded by CDC through NYSDOH and University of Connecticut demo projects, to help HIV-positive individuals and couples talk about prevention within their relationships.

HIV counseling and testing, with a special focus on women’s health, in our ObGyn clinics (at 5 Brooklyn locations).
Community education and outreach.

PATH works closely with the New York City Department of Health’s Women and HIV Initiative to teach women in our community about HIV prevention and to offer free condoms, female and male, to those who wish them.

Background of PATH Staff

PATH is committed to creating a staff that is culturally competent and that reflects the community we serve. This is central to our commitment to build a program with “doors wide open.” The multilingual, multicultural nature of our staff makes it possible to serve clients who are recent immigrants, many of whom are monolingual in their language of origin.

PATH’s 44 full or part-time staff has the following racial/ethnic backgrounds:

African descent 21, (including 11 African-Americans and 10 African-Caribbean people)

White 13

Latino 8

Arab 1

Asian 1

TOTAL 44

Twenty-nine of the 44 or 66% of staff are female.

PATH’s abstract published at the 2002 International AIDS Conference, titled “Serving HIV-Positive Recent Immigrants in New York City,” highlights the fact that PATH’s clients who have come recently from other nations experience the same positive clinical outcomes as patients who are long-time U.S. residents.

The highest quality HIV care is of paramount importance to PATH. Leonard Berkowitz, MD, PATH’s Medical Director and the hospital’s Chief of Infectious Diseases, has been named one of the “Best Doctors in New York City” for the past eight years in a row by New York Magazine.

PATH’s Relationship to Our Community: A Continuum of Care for Positive Women of Color

Excellent, integrated relationships with community-based organizations (CBOs) are of critical importance to PATH, and support the care we offer HIV-positive women.

Client referrals represent our #1 source of new patients: our clients tell their friends and relatives that PATH is a good place to come if you are HIV-positive.

Referrals from Community Based Organizations (CBOs), like the Haitian Centers Council, are our #2 source of new patients.

We currently benefit from linkage agreements with 55 community-based service providers offering a broad range of services, including: intensive case management, support groups, recreational services, legal assistance, housing referral and assistance, domestic violence counseling, food pantries, advocacy, immigration assistance, translation, prevention services…and the list goes on and on.

PATH has served as a key partner in the AIDS Leadership Coalition (ALC), initiated by the Haitian Centers Council. PATH’s Executive Director serves as Vice President. ALC monthly meetings are frequently held at PATH’s Central Brooklyn location. The ALC offers an important forum for initiating and coordinating services to African-Caribbean people, with a special emphasis on those who have emigrated recently from Haiti.

Thirteen of our key CBOs serve on PATH’s Advisory Board and give us constant input to improve the range, quality and coordination of care for clients.

One of the newest, and most exciting, ventures is creation of the “Center” (we’re still looking for a final name!). This refers to the 5^th floor of our main service site in Central Brooklyn, at the Caledonian Health Center, 100 Parkside Avenue. The Center encompasses not only PATH’s adult and Family Programs but also, in contiguous space, houses offices of four community-based AIDS service organizations: Haitian Centers Council, Diaspora Community Services, CAMBA (Church Avenue Merchants Block Association), and New World Creations Resource Center/Caribbean AIDS Fund.

The Center allows clients to easily access a broad range of services, not only medical, but also housing, case management, immigration, advocacy, prevention, and domestic violence/family services, thereby creating a continuum of HIV medical and psychosocial care for HIV-positive women of color and their loved ones.

Courtesy of Mr. Dan Sendzik, Executive Director of The PATH Center

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