STOP THE HOP CLINIC CLOSING!!!!!!!

The New Orleans Medical Center is considering closing their HIV outpatient clinic in New Orleans, a clinic which treats mostly the poor and indigent, due to budget cuts. This means that over 3200 HIV positive people in New Orleans who are often without medical insurance, prescription benefits, and much (or any source of) income could lose their trusted source of medical care and prescription drugs.

Anyone who lives in Louisiana can use this page to copy the form letter below and send it to his/her State Representative(s)/Senator(s) and/or the LSU Board of Supervisors in charge of this decision whose addresses and telephone numbers are listed below. You may also wish to contact them by phone or e-mail when possible. I will be fighting the closing of this clinic by whatever means I can and I hope you will help.

Form Letter:

Date _____________

Dear _________________,

As a member of the community, I’m writing to you to let you know how concerned I am about the possible closure of the HIV Outpatient Clinic (HOP) at the Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans. This clinic cares for more than 3,200 HIV-infected men, women and children from the New Orleans area—more than half of whom are uninsured. Please do not close the clinic.

I strongly recommend that you look at other ways to allocate the cuts across the public health system so that the HOP Clinic can continue to operate at full capacity. The local area hospital inpatient units and emergency rooms cannot absorb the volume of HOP patients without adversely affecting existing resources and care delivery systems. With reported increases in cases among women, especially African-American women, closing the HOP clinic will greatly restrict access to care for the newly-diagnosed. HOP sees at least 400 new patients every year!

HOP has worked for many years to create a safe and caring environment for people who suffer from a disease that continues to be heavily stigmatized. It serves the most disenfranchised, vulnerable and fragile of our community (including the mentally ill, indigent, homeless, substance users, women, children, co-infected, and entire families infected with HIV). These individuals and families would not be warmly welcomed in most other hospital settings, particularly in the great number of patients that HOP sees. But most importantly, the patients themselves may feel too unwelcome to seek care elsewhere.

Research has clearly shown that the more coordinated, centralized and specialized the care efforts, the more cost-effective the care. If you close the HOP clinic, MCLNO and other are hospital costs of inpatient and emergency room care will skyrocket!

Now is not the time to cut services! When the rest of the country is rising to the challenge of HIV/AIDS, closing the largest HIV clinic in Louisiana sends a poor message to the rest of the nation. While Louisiana is no stranger to being the laughingstock of Washington, DC, community members such as me do not want this image perpetuated.

I frankly worry about the future of HOP’s patients, and I hope that you do too.

Sincerely,


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Signature

_____________
Name
_____________
Address
_____________
City, State, Zip

Board of Supervisors' Addresses and Phone Numbers:


1st. District
Dr. Jack A. Andonie** 504-780-6454 1204 Transcontinental Dr. Metairie, LA 70001

Mr. Bernard E. Boudreaux, Jr. 225-932-9129 P.O. Box 94004 Baton Rouge, LA 70804

Mr. Charles V. Cusimano** 504-833-0970 P.O. Box 8362 Metairie, LA 70011

2nd District
Mr. Rod West** 504-670-3672 1600 Perdido St. Building 505 New Orleans, LA 70112

Chairman Roger H. Ogden** 504-866-9757 460 Broadway Street New Orleans, LA 70118

3rd District
Mr. Perry Segura 337-367-7783 P.O. Box 13140 New Iberia, LA 70562

Mr. Marty J. Chalbert 985-594-3358 P.O. Box 518 Chauvin, LA 70344

Mr. Brian Hightower 225-578-8646 Paul M Hebert Law Center, RM 202 Baton Rouge, LA 70803

4th District
Mrs. Virginia K. Shehee 318-222-0555 P.O. Box 88 Shreveport, LA 71161

Vice-Chairman C. Stewart Slack 318-425-3030 P.O. Box 1450 Shreveport, LA 71164

5th District
Mr. Kent Anderson 318-362-8201 1500 N. 18th Street Monroe, LA 71201


Mr. Charles S. Weems III 318-445-6471 P.O. Box 6118 Alexandria, LA 71307

6th District
Mr. Ronald R. Anderson 225-922-6203 P.O. Box 25 Ethel, LA 70730

Mr. Louis Lambert 225-673-6820 37110 St. Andrews Fairway Prairieville, LA 70769

7th District
Mrs. Laura A. Leach 337-439-5508 P.O. Box 997 Lake Charles, LA 70602

Mr. William W. “Billy” Ricks, IV 337-232-8460 P.O. Box 51967 Lafayette, LA 70505

**=from the New Orleans area