The clinic will provide a variety of services, including assistance for those seeking prescriptions and counseling for medication needs. (Becca Costello, WFIU/WTIU News)
State officials say an HIV and Hepatitis C clinic opening in Hammond is the first of its kind.
Franciscan Health announced the multi-specialty clinic this month with a blessing and open house. The clinic will be open Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to noon, and will offer services that include screenings and connections to care and support.
Jolietta Holliman is Hepatitis C program director for Franciscan Health. She says the clinic will provide a variety of services, including assistance for those seeking prescriptions and counseling for medication needs.
“Bringing together not only providers and access to linkage to care and treatment opportunities, but also bringing in pharmacy,” Holliman says.
She says that’s part of what makes the clinic unique.
A grant from Gilead Sciences called the Frontlines of Communities in the United States, or FOCUS, will fund the clinic. Franciscan Health began a screening and support program with the help of Caring Ambassadors in Oregon in 2012, and expanded with the help of FOCUS grant funding in 2016. The clinic is the result of the most recent grant.
Holliman says Franciscan has seen a positive response from both the community and from state health officials since the clinic was announced. She says the clinic is the result of collaboration, and the grant funding allows them to direct more resources toward patients.
“So if they need help with supportive services or help with getting their prescriptions, then that money can come back in to help the program and help those participants of the program,” Holliman says.
Holliman says anyone born between 1945 and 1965 has the highest risk for contracting Hepatitis C. But she says intravenous drug use and needle sharing can also contribute to the spread of the virus.
The clinic will open Dec. 19, and will serve northwest Indiana and southern suburbs of Chicago.
