Indiana To Keep HIV Outbreak Response Center Open For 1 Year

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State officials plan to keep an outreach center open for one more year in a southern Indiana county that's facing the largest HIV outbreak in state history.

State health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams discussed those and other plans related to the outbreak during a Wednesday news conference.

Southern Indiana's outbreak is tied to needle-sharing among intravenous drug users. Since December, that region has seen 170 HIV cases, nearly all of them in Scott County, about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.

State health officials opened a community outreach center this spring in Austin, the small city that's the outbreak's epicenter.

Health department spokeswoman Libby Simmons says that center will move soon to a new location where it will be open one day a week for a year.

Support independent journalism today. You rely on WFYI to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Donate to power our nonprofit reporting today. Give now.

Families could lose thousands in income if Indiana reduces payments to parents of kids with disabilities

A proposal by Indiana Medicaid officials would drastically cut payments that thousands of families of people with disabilities relied on. State officials say it's necessary to curb ballooning utilization and plug a huge budget gap. But some families worry the changes could lead to them losing their jobs or even their homes.