For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
EMAIL:jburke@apla.org
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES LAUNCHES MOBILE
CLINIC TO MARK TWENTY YEARS OF DENTAL SERVICES
Dental Office on Wheels Will Bring Professional Care to Low-Income People
with HIV/AIDS across L.A. County
Los Angeles, CA, March 18, 2005 – On its 20th anniversary of providing dental care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) will launch a new mobile dental clinic at a ceremony to take place at The Antelope Valley Hope Center in Lancaster, CA on March 25th.
Responding to the need for professional and confidential dental care for people living with HIV/AIDS, APLA opened The Greene / LeBaron Dental Clinic in March of 1985. The clinic, initially staffed by volunteers, was the nation’s first 100 percent AIDS-dedicated dental facility operated by a community based organization.
During 20 years of growth, APLA’s clinic became the nation’s largest provider of dental services to people living with HIV/AIDS. APLA began planning for the launch of a mobile dental clinic to reach under-served regions of Los Angeles County in 2004. Funding for the mobile dental clinic was provided by The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, The Ahmanson Foundation, and the S. Mark Taper Foundation.
“We are pleased to be able to expand a vital program that we have offered since the very beginning of L.A.’s epidemic,” said APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson. “People living with HIV/AIDS have complicated oral health needs. We are grateful that we were able to assemble government support and generous Los Angeles foundation support to allow us to meet those needs in a professional, safe setting that can reach people in underserved areas.”
The launch ceremony will take place on Friday, March 25, 2005, with a program from 11:30 A.M. to 12:00 Noon and tours of the mobile clinic to follow. The Antelope Valley Hope Center, part of High Desert Health System, is located at 44900 N. 60th Street West, Lancaster, CA 93536.
Speakers at the program currently include: Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors, Fifth District; John F. Schunhoff, Chief of
Operations, Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health,
Department of
Health Services; and Craig E. Thompson, Executive Director, AIDS Project
Los Angeles.
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APLA Dental Services treats all HIV-positive patients, regardless of their
ability to pay. Approximately 41 percent of clients receive free services;
other patients pay on a sliding-scale fee basis or through insurance billing
as appropriate.
In 2005, approximately 1,700 patients from across Los Angeles County will receive treatment in the main APLA dental office in the Samaritan Medical Tower. The mobile clinic will reach another 375 patients.
Some facts about APLA Dental Services and oral health for people with HIV/AIDS:
• Approximately one-third of all people living with HIV/AIDS have experienced oral conditions that have arisen due to a weakened immune system.
• Dental care was ranked as the second most needed service by people living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County’s comprehensive needs assessment of this population.
• Nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of APLA Dental Services patients are people of color, and half (51 percent) have annual incomes under $10,000.
• APLA Dental Services are provided to men and women living in all areas of Los Angeles County.
• The mobile dental clinic will be professionally staffed by three experienced dentists, a trilingual (English, Spanish, Tagalog) dental hygienist, and three dental assistants, two of whom are bilingual (English and Spanish).
• The mobile clinic is currently scheduled to provide services in Claremont, Lancaster, Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Whittier.
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.
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