HOP HISTORY

In the late 1980s, it became clear that HIV was spreading rapidly in New Orleans. When these first cases of AIDS were seen, no organized program for their medical care existed. Patients were seen at the Medicine Clinic at Charity Hospital, where the cubicles were sealed off until they could be decontaminated after each visit.

Many of the uninsured and underinsured HIV-infected population, represented by artists, writers, craftsmen, small business owners, restaurant workers, and workers left unemployed by the collapse of the oil boom, formed a new "medically-indigent" population. They were soon joined by those less fortunate members of society whose lives were also caught up in the wave of the AIDS epidemic: street youth, sex workers, the growing homeless population, and those who were consuming their lives in alcohol and/or drugs.

In 1986, Dr. Ted Wisniewski, a family practitioner, and other visionaries petitioned the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for funding to start an HIV clinic. The HIV Outpatient Program (HOP) clinic opened its doors in 1987 and served over 100 clients in its first year of operation.

HOP has grown significantly in the intervening years. For a number of years, the HIV Outpatient Program consisted of the main clinic on Roman Street and its satellite Delgado Clinic. Together these clinics provided comprehensive medical care to HIV-infected individuals at all stages of the disease in New Orleans and the surrounding region. The program was the largest single provider of HIV-related health care in the Gulf South Region with more than 3,200 active patients.

To view HOP's history as it corresponds to the history of the disease, click on the years of interest below.

Today, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Infectious Disease Clinic/HOP is rebuilding its client population and clinic staff at 136 S. Roman Street in New Orleans. Fashioned on a "one-stop-shopping" model, all aspects of care are orchestrated by a multidisciplinary team of providers. Numerous programs and services assist patients in stabilizing themselves and their circumstances, so that they can actively participate in their medical care.

These include an expert team of physicians and nurses specifically trained to treat HIV-infected patients, on-site dental care, a nutritionist, a health educator, social workers, as well as several medical sub-specialists including ophthalmology, psychiatry, neurology, pulmonology, gynecology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, and hematology/oncology.

Many obstacles remain ahead in the coming years, not the least of which is recovery from the many changes wrought by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding caused by the levee failures.. However, HOP is committed to responding to the evolving therapeutic recommendations and challenges of newly recognized long-term complications...until there is a cure for HIV/AIDS.

CONTACT US

To make an appointment or refer a patient/client, please contact us at 504-903-6959 or 903-6572.

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