Michigan State University (MSU) is using a $75,000 grant from the Michigan Health Initiative fund to offer medical care, case management and financial and advocacy services to HIV patients in Central Michigan.
Peter Gulick, a professor with MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, says before the clinic was opened, AIDs patients living in central Michigan near Mt. Pleasant and Harrison, MI, were forced to go to Traverse City and Chicago for treatment.
“We’re doing education up there for the providers, but we’re also doing it for the community so we can make sure patients and high risk individuals are aware that we exist,” Gulick says.
Central Michigan has the third largest HIV population in the state. Detroit and Grand Rapids have the first and second highest HIV population.
The new clinic will allow also Gulick to expand his HIV/AIDS-related research. Gulick and his staff are in the middle of a drug trial that tests the effectiveness of a number of pharmaceuticals.
“Yes, the people in mid-Michigan will benefit from this,” he says. “Right now, we’re looking at a new agent that could possibly prevent the virus from affecting the cell. The drugs we have now only work when the virus is in the cell, but this one could prevent it from getting it.”
Gulick and his colleagues also used $250,000 from the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act to fund the project.
The clinic’s been open for about two months. June is national HIV testing month.
Source: Peter Gulick, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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