GMHC Hosts Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting for GMHC Center for HIV Prevention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Krishna Stone | 212.367.1016

New York, NY — On Tuesday, September 27, National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, The ribbon was cut for the new GMHC Center for HIV Prevention located at 224 West 29th Street.  The new Center consists of state-of-the art HIV testing services (also syphilis and hepatitis C testing), the Community Health Department which primarily focuses on HIV prevention and research programs, a new youth leadership-development program, and MOMS Pharmacy (full pharmaceutical services)--all in a storefront setting in Chelsea. 

Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Janet Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer of GMHC were joined by Humberto Cruz, Director, New York State AIDS Institute; Monica Sweeney, MD, Assistant Commissioner, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Juan Rosa, Liaison, Latino and LGBTQ Affairs, Office of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.  Guests also included members of the GMHC Board of Directors, funders and supporters.

The new location will enable GMHC to expand its services to meet the growing and complex needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS.  In this 30th year of the epidemic, HIV continues to rise at alarming rates--locally and nationally--particularly among women, African Americans, Latinos and men who have sex with men. 

Recently, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported that Chelsea has the highest rates of HIV infection in the city.  Of those infected in Chelsea in 2009, roughly 75 percent of those diagnosed with HIV were men who have sex with men, compared to 43 percent of those diagnosed citywide who were men who have sex with men, according to the report.

* * *

About GMHC:  GMHC is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported, and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. We provide prevention and care services to men, women, and families that are living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS in New York City. We advocate for scientific, evidence-based public health solutions for hundreds of thousands worldwide.  Our mission:  GMHC fights to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected.