Latest news with #KindClinic
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Kind Clinic celebrates 10th anniversary in Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — This Pride month, local LGBTQ+ and HIV prevention nonprofit Texas Health Action celebrates a decade of service to the Austin community through its Kind Clinic. Kind Clinic began in 2015 as THA's Austin PrEP Access Project, which worked to help locals get the HIV-prevention drug PrEP. The first physical Kind Clinic location opened in 2017 on 40th Street. Since then, THA has expanded and opened clinics in San Antonio and Dallas. While the direct history of Kind Clinic only goes back to 2015, THA's story began with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, according to a timeline created by the nonprofit. THA Chief Advancement Officer Juan Benitez said that many medical providers weren't willing to offer the HIV prevention drug PrEP after it became available. '[Kind Clinic and Texas Health Action] is really rooted in that foundation of community members responding to a need and a lack of providers, which we have seen throughout the history of queer people. It's what we saw in the 80s, at the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemic,' Benitez said. Currently, two Kind Clinics operate in Austin: one at 101 W Koenig Lane and another at 2800 S I-35 Frontage Rd #103. 'We're fortunate to be able to celebrate 10 years of kindness and 10 years of Kind Clinic, where now we serve almost 30,000 people every single year across the state of Texas, but we know that there are thousands more who need access to the life-saving care that we provide,' he said. According to Benitez, the Kind Patient Assistance Program has provided $1.6 million to help cover patients' costs. The fund has also helped patients get rides to and from the clinic. It is funded by private donors and organizations. PREVIOUS | LGBTQ+ health clinic seeks donations amid 'uncertain' federal funding environment 'That $1.6 million helps us identify all of those challenges that a patient has and we remove them so that they don't have to worry about whether they're going to get their medications or not,' he said. 'Texas is the most uninsured state in the country. About 20% of Texans do not have health insurance … our patient base is 40% uninsured.' The clinic has also started to help uninsured patients enroll in health insurance 'We go as far as helping them pay for those premiums if they get health insurance on marketplace. It's really a patchwork of funds here, whether they're private, public or even individual donors, that help make this care possible to begin with,' Benitez said. As for where THA will be in another 10 years? Benitez said they plan to go as far as the local LGBTQ+ community wants and needs. 'Queer people exist here and their healthcare needs are just as valid as anyone else's,' he said. 'We are everywhere as LGBTQIA+ communities and people impacted by HIV. Across the state and every county, every corner of Texas, there's someone living there who needs our services.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
LGBTQ+ health clinic seeks donations amid ‘uncertain' federal funding enviornment
AUSTIN (KXAN) – In a time of financial uncertainty, Kind Clinic is seeking community donations so it can continue to provide its clients with consistent care. Every day, hundreds of Texans walk into Kind Clinic for sexually transmitted infection testing, HIV care and prevention and mental health services. While around 20% of Texans are underinsured, approximately 40% of Kind Clinic's patients lack health insurance, according to the clinic. 'We're really helping close healthcare gaps for individuals who either have health insurance but can't afford the cost of their medications or outright don't have health insurance,' said Juan Benitez, the chief advancement officer for Texas Health Action. Last week, Austin Public Health leaders spoke at a Public Health Committee meeting, telling city council members that APH had lost around $15 million in federal grant funding and 50 jobs. It said there is a possibility that it could lose even more grant funding soon. While Kind Clinic does not rely solely on APH funding – its funding comes from multiple sources – APH provided Kind Clinic and the Texas Health Action around $1.35 million in its 2023-2024 budget for STI and HIV testing. 'We're looking at getting renewed,' Benitez said. 'We cannot just eliminate STI testing and treatment at Kind Clinic; [that would] definitely leave a void of care for Austinites.' Kind Clinic said it has events people can attend and new programs that will help ensure Kind Clinic can continue its mission. 'We really are not just a pillar for the LGBTQIA+ community and those living with HIV and impacted by HIV,' Benitez said. 'We're a pillar for public health at large here in Central Texas.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Federal funding for HIV testing, medication could go away in Austin due to DOGE cuts
Key funding to help lessen the spread of HIV in Austin could be affected as part of the federal Department of Government Efficiency's funding cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and the Prevention and at the Health and Human Services Administration. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that HIV prevention and treatment funding, which is about $1 billion a year at the CDC, was among the cuts being considered by the Health and Human Services Administration. This year, the Kind Clinic — which has two Austin clinics and whose clients are mainly members of the underserved and under- or uninsured LGBTQ+ community — was expected to receive $1.3 million in federal funds for HIV prevention services and $800,000 in federal grants for HIV treatment services that come through the city of Austin and the Brazos Valley Council of Governments. Austin and Texas have historically been a city and state to watch when it comes to people with HIV and new HIV infections, said Christopher Hamilton, CEO of the Kind Clinic. According to data from AIDSVu, Travis County has 7,645 people living with HIV, with a prevalence rate that is 398 cases per 100,000, higher than the national average of 388 cases per 100,000. Texas has a prevalence rate of 425 cases per 100,000. Texas also has a higher rate of new cases, 20, compared with the national average of 18, and Travis County has an even higher rate at 21. "Elimination of funding would be catastrophic," Hamilton said. Clinics are losing funding for HIV prevention drugs and screenings. Here's what that means U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, wrote a letter Wednesday to CDC acting Director Dr. Susan Monarez to question the funding cuts in the middle of a measles outbreak in Texas and asked for an accounting of how the CDC is handling that outbreak and the lack of reliable scientific information coming from the federal government about measles. At least 750 people at the CDC have been fired by DOGE. Information about HIV on the CDC website was taken down by the Trump administration and then had to be restored by a court order. Some of the information on the CDC's HIV website now has this disclaimer: "Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it." Access to accurate information and treatment is important to patients, Hamilton said. The Austin Kind Clinic locations had more than 10,000 patients last year. Much of the federal funding allowed the clinic to provide HIV testing and counseling, as well as free medication to prevent transmission before a person is infected and medication to prevent transmission after a person has tested positive for the infection. Why are syphilis rates rising in Austin? What you need to know about surge in cases. "We're absolutely going to work our hardest to continue the services, to fund testing, prevention and treatment," Hamilton said. "We have a 10-year history of preventing and treating HIV. We're not going to stop." HIV funding already has been hit hard for the Kind Clinic when a change in the way a drug manufacturer handled reimbursements took away more than $9 million in annual funding in 2022. Hamilton said the clinic will continue to rely on funding from multiple sources. It could continue to come from local government entities, but those entities might not have federal government money to pass along resources. Hamilton estimates it costs $6,000 annually for one person to be on prophylactic medicine to prevent becoming infected. For people already infected, it costs between $12,000 and $15,000 for a person to take medication that reduces the risk of passing HIV to another person. Currently, the Kind Clinic does not take insurance and offers free or minimal cost health care. It is looking at taking health insurance in the future, because some patients do have insurance but can't afford the co-pays or don't feel comfortable in another clinic setting. Taking insurance would require hiring more people to negotiate with insurance. Already, it has three people who only work on obtaining prior authorizations for the medications it prescribes. "That's not the best use of funds that are already limited," Hamilton said. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Federal funding for HIV treatment could be going away due to DOGE cuts
