Outpatient HIV / AIDS treatment center moves to Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks

The Comprehensive Care Center (CCC), one of the largest and most successful HIV / AIDS outpatient treatment centers in the country, is moving towards

Vanderbilt Health Cent Oaks.

As of October 4, most clinical services for CSC patients will now be provided by the Vanderbilt Medical Group under a new name, the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic.

CCC, an independent, non-profit organization, will continue to administer federal grants to support the clinic and provide a wide range of services, including psychiatric, nutritional and medical case management, as well as specialized care for patients. pregnant women with HIV.

Clinical research programs at Vanderbilt AIDS Center and Nashville Pharmacy Services, specializing in HIV treatment, will also be installed in the office tower at One Hundred Oaks.

The agreement "is suitable for everyone," said CCC founder and medical director Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt. Providing highly specialized and expensive care for patients living with HIV and AIDS is "an incredible challenge," especially for a small, self-sustaining facility, Raffanti said.

"This is a great victory for Vanderbilt's research and teaching missions," said Richard D'Aquila, MD, director of the Vanderbilt AIDS Center and the Division of Infectious Diseases of the Department of Medicine.

CCC has been a critical site for Vanderbilt's clinical investigators for years. The relocation will "allow us to do more translational research than before," said D'Aquila. "It means we have a better opportunity to teach trainees at all levels."

Since its inception in 1994 as a collaboration of Nashville Hospitals, the business community and Vanderbilt University, the CCC has recruited 7,400 patients. Until recently, it was located near Centennial Park.

CCC currently supports more than 2,400 patients in Nashville and through satellite clinics in Cookeville, Columbia and Springfield.

Thanks to an innovative and personalized disease management, it has prevented – in almost all cases – the transmission of the AIDS virus by HIV-infected pregnant women to their babies during or after childbirth.

D'Aquila said the transfer would enhance collaboration with other AIDS organizations, including Nashville CARES, and the city and state health services to overcome the obstacles preventing the diagnosis. early access to services and retention of care.

The ultimate goal, he said, is to "prevent and cure this ever-spreading, lifelong infection."