HISTORIC MERGER BETWEEN AIDS COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER AND AIDS ROCHESTER OFFICIAL

AIDS Care to Provide Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Services and Programs in One Organization

After more than a year of planning, preparation, and perseverance, the legal merger between AIDS Community Health Center and AIDS Rochester is official. 

The new organization formed by this merger is called AIDS Care. This will be the only organization in the Finger Lakes region with HIV/AIDS care and support services as its sole focus.  And, it will offer a wide array of HIV/AIDS medical, social and prevention services. 

“We’ve always prided ourselves on providing all the HIV/AIDS care, support, outreach, and prevention services people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS need,” says Jay Rudman, former president of AIDS Community Health Center and newly appointed president and chief executive officer of AIDS Care. “Our new tagline – The Center for Positive Living – says it all. This new organization will enable us to expand and improve the live-saving services we have more than 40 years combined experience providing to the community.”

AIDS Community Health Center and AIDS Rochester decided to merge to combine their resources to prevent additional HIV infection and provide the best services possible for those already infected.  In addition, the merger is expected to help provide fiscal stability in today’s challenging economic environment to ensure the organizations’ viability well into the future.

“This is an exciting day, not only for AIDS Care, but also for those we serve and the entire community,” says John Wikiera, a patient and member of the Board of Directors. “This milestone has produced a win-win situation, benefiting both the health of the organization, and more importantly, patients and clients like myself.”   

AIDS Community Health Center , formerly known as Community Health Network, was founded in 1989 by two infectious diseases physicians, Dr. Steven Scheibel and Dr. William Valenti, as a community medical and diagnostic clinic for those who were infected with HIV/AIDS. When the doors opened in 1989, 76 patients came to receive care. By 2009, AIDS Community Health Center’s 60 staff members were serving more than 600 people.

 

AIDS Rochester was established 26 years ago as part of the New York State Health Department’s network of Community Service Programs (CSPs).  The organization started with one staff person and a one room office.  By 2009, the agency had 50 staff members dedicated to providing a continuum of prevention and social services for people living with HIV and their loved ones.  
 
The main offices of both organizations moved to one facility at 259 Monroe Avenue in October 2009 just weeks before the official merger.  The new phone number for AIDS Care’s main office is 585-545-7200 and the company is launching a new website at www.acRochester.org. AIDS Care also maintains satellite locations in Bath, Geneva, and on Central Avenue in downtown Rochester. 

 

 

---