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Health officials in Austin, Indiana, say the first day of their HIV clinic that’s meant to combat the state’s HIV epidemic--was a success. About 30 people showed up to be tested for the virus.
Foundations Family Medicine in Austin launched the clinic five days after Gov. Mike Pence signed an executive order that allows for a needle-exchange program in Scott County and allocates state Department of Health resources to the area.
More than 80 patients have tested HIV positive in southeastern Indiana, and nearly all of those cases have been traced back to Scott County. They’re largely associated with IV drug use.
At the Austin medical clinic, patients were given a preliminary HIV test that takes about 20 minutes and is 99 percent accurate.
While he can’t say how many of those tests came back positive, the clinic’s medical director, Dr. William Cooke says he expects to see a spike in the number of cases in the coming weeks because of the increase in testing.
“It may look like this epidemic is growing rapidly," Cooke said. "I do want to caution everyone that this might not be the case.”
The governor’s executive order is only effective for 30 days, so unless extended, the state resources will largely disappear after that time is up.
Cooke still plans to indefintely open the HIV clinic every Tuesday — so patients can come for HIV treatment and get signed up for addiction therapy.
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