Contact:
Wayne Slusher - (540) 857-7600 x 312 for ADAP/Medication Assistance
Cheryl Humes (540) 857-7600 x135 for HIV Nursing Case Management
The Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts has provided HIV-related services to the community since June of 1985 when the Anonymous HIV Testing Site ( ATS ) program for the Commonwealth was initiated. Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts has participated in the Ryan White Title II Grant since the initial application was submitted for funding by the consortium in 1989.
As available funding and the consumer base has grown, so too has the services provided by Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. What began with a single Public Health Nurse in 1989 has evolved to a staff of seven health-care professionals with a broad consumer base numbering more than 450 HIV-infected persons.
Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts provide HIV services with a team approach in order that clients are not restricted to a single staff member or a single district office for their needs. The Care Team currently provides Ryan White Title II services in the following categories: Medication/Pharmacy Assistance, Treatment Adherence/Compliance, Standard Case Management, Intensive Case Management, Client Advocacy, Nutritional Supplements and Outreach/Referral Services.
The Care Team works hand-in-hand with the Carilion Infectious Disease Clinic, also a Ryan White Title II participant, to provide the area with an excellent continuum of care. While Carilion focuses primarily on direct patient medical care, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts compliment their services with the supportive services detailed above. Each year, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts and Carilion carefully evaluate each service area to not only prevent duplication of services, but also insure that the service categories for each entity is a “good fit” for the agencies and what best benefits the consumers served.
Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts also provide services to consumers who do not receive services at Carilion, such as Lewis-Gale Medical Center, and those who receive medical services from physicians outside the Carilion and/or Lewis-Gale Medical Center networks.
As a part of the Virginia Department of Health, the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts pharmacy provides HIV-related medications through the AIDS Drugs Assistance Program ( ADAP ), through non- ADAP medications covered by the Ryan White formulary, and through Medicaid. This arrangement is very advantageous for the Treatment Adherence/Compliance component since pick-up dates of medications can be closely monitored.
The Care Team consist of public health nurses providing standard case management, a health counselor who provides client advocacy and treatment adherence, and a social worker who provides intensive case management and outreach services to those considered “lost to care.”
Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts have created close working relationships within the community that include; Kuumba Health Care, Blue Ridge AIDS Support Services, Roanoke AIDS Project, Shelter Plus Care, A Place Called Hope, various food banks, shelters, both adult- and child-protection agencies, emergency assistance organizations, mental health agencies and addiction recovery programs.