3 results for month: 01/2021

IN THE MEDIA: Overwhelmed LGBTQ Health Centers Scramble to Vaccinate New Yorkers

By Tat Bellamy-Walker Gay City News “When we’re in the trenches, they keep asking us to do more,” said Tom Marino, chief transformation officer for Harlem United, a community health center in Manhattan. “But we don’t know how much more we can give. There are people who are sick because they’re exhausted, and when you have run yourself down, you become more susceptible to COVID. I’m seeing more of my staff become ill.” Workers at community health centers serving LGBTQ populations in the city are feeling overburdened as they scramble to vaccinate New Yorkers and simultaneously care for other patients, prompting them to call on the ...

In the Media: Cuomo’s proposed Medicaid reforms disrupt the care of vulnerable New Yorkers

By Jacquelyn Kilmer, CEOAM New YorkIn his State of the State address on Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo closed on a hopeful note, listing a series of our achievements as a state in the face of people telling us “it can’t be done.” One of the achievements he mentioned was ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Surprising, since we haven’t ended the epidemic yet. We have made steady progress since the Governor’s Blueprint to End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic was unveiled in 2015. In New York City, once the epicenter of the AIDS crisis, new HIV diagnoses were down 8% from 2018 to 2019, and 70% since 2001. These are impressive numbers, but progress has been ...

Harlem United Signs on to Letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy

Harlem United, along with 200 other healthcare groups, sent a letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy urging the Biden Administration to pursue proven solutions to end the overdose crisis and the drug war.  Key policy recommendations include: Ground the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in evidence-based drug policies backed by science and public health approaches Commit the ONDCP to dismantle the drug war Dedicate funds to sustain harm reduction providers Direct the Department of Justice to withdraw litigation challenging the operation of overdose prevention centers Permanently extend the SAMHSA/DEA COVID-19 ...