This week we are celebrating our amazing TIPS team in recognition of World AIDS Day (December 1). TIPS stands for Treatment, Intervention, and Prevention Services, and CrossOver has been providing testing as well as treatment for HIV/AIDS since 1991.
Both of our clinics offer walk-in, free, confidential, rapid HIV testing, and anyone can be tested at CrossOver. CrossOver offers treatment through medical and nursing care, case management, mental health counseling, transportation assistance, and prevention education for HIV/AIDS clients.
- In FY20, we completed 1,087 patient visits and 998 rapid HIV tests.
- 87% of CrossOver TIPS patients have a viral load <200. This exceeds the national average of 84%. A viral load <200 is considered virally suppressed.
- TIPS case managers Millie Rocha and Claudia Wall recently increased our patients with up-to-date eligibility to 98%—during a pandemic!
- Our team recently welcomed a new member—Celeste Kilpatrick, MA.
We’re so proud of our TIPS team members, who go above and beyond for their patients every day. Recently, Claudia Wall learned that a patient had lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and was on the verge of being evicted. He was experiencing food insecurity and did not have the resources to purchase gas for his car. “Claudia worked every day to assist this patient by phone or in person to make sure he was stable,” says Jerry Romero, TIPS program manager.
“Our patients benefit from our team’s social and emotional support along with medical care,” says Dr. Vivian Bruzzese, director of HIV programs at CrossOver. “We often see patients gain stability in housing and job situations along with their physical health. They feel supported. They know we care.”