HIV Counseling & Testing Resource Directory - 2004 Revised Edition (January 2008 Update)
HIV Counseling and Testing Resource Directory (2004 Revised Edition, January 2008 Update) is published by the Office of Program Evaluation and Research, AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health.
Download a printable copy of this Introduction.(PDF, 141 KB, 12pg.)
Your comments on this resource directory are most welcome. For questions, comments or additional copies of the directory, please write to:
Office of Program Evaluation and ResearchNYSDOH AIDS Institute
Riverview Center, 5th Floor
150 Broadway
Menands, NY 12204
FAX: (518) 402-6813
ctdirhiv@health.state.ny.us
Acknowledgements
We thank all the service providers and their staff for providing the service information printed in this directory. We also thank Patricia Davenport for her assistance in data collection for the project, and Elizabeth Maybo for her assistance in posting the electronic version of this report on the New York State Department of Health web site. Special thanks to our colleagues at the AIDS Institute for their advice, and reviewers of this reports for their insights, comments, and suggestions.
Message from the AIDS Institute Director
Counseling and Testing for HIV is a vitally important part of New York's strategy to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For a person at risk who may be infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, knowing one's HIV status is the first step in gaining access to treatment that can lead to a longer, healthier life. That knowledge can also lead to personal actions that can reduce the risk of HIV transmission to others. For an uninfected individual, knowledge of HIV status, when coupled with effective counseling and support, can assist the person in reducing their infection risk in the future.
This resource directory has been updated to help ensure that those you serve can be referred to local, easily accessible, HIV counseling and testing providers. For each provider listed, the directory provides an address and a telephone number, indicates whether anonymous testing is available, and provides other service details - including the test methods available, the language capabilities of the provider and service cost information - to help your clients make decisions about where to seek counseling and testing services. Please do what you can to encourage those you serve to learn their HIV status by seeking HIV counseling and testing at their earliest opportunity. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to improve the health and well-being of New Yorkers.
Guthrie S. Birkhead, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, AIDS Institute
About the HIV Counseling and Testing Resource Directory
HIV counseling and testing (C & T) is an important preventive activity that also serves to facilitate access to care among persons with HIV/AIDS. A vital component of the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH) strategy to reduce HIV transmission, HIV C & T provides opportunities for people to learn of their HIV status; provides prevention counseling to promote protective behavior and, for those already infected, to prevent transmission to others. In addition, HIV C & T helps individuals obtain referrals for prevention, medical care, and social support services.
There are two types of testing, confidential and anonymous. With confidential testing, the most commonly available option, HIV counseling and testing information, including the test result, is recorded in the patient's medical record. The test result is protected by state law from unauthorized disclosure. Anonymous testing, by contrast, involves no linking of individual identity to the test request or results; written, informed consent is obtained through the use of a coded number system.
The purposes of this resource directory are to alert human service providers to local HIV C & T resources and to connect individuals in need of such services with available community services. The directory has two sections: the first covers New York State exclusive of New York City, while the second covers New York City. East section is organized by county with HIV C & T ser5vice providers in each county listed alphabetically. Toll-free hotline numbers are displayed on the top of the list in counties where NYSDOH-operated anonymous HIV C & T services are available. A brief description of the anonymous counseling and testing services is given on the next page. Additional information is available on the NYSDOH website.
For every service provider included in the directory, the name, address, phone number, and URL (if available) of the agency are listed first, followed by information on:
- The availability of anonymous HIV tests;
- the availability of oral fluid or rapid testing;
- type of visits available (walk-in, by appointment, evening hours, and weekend hours);
- languages spoken by counseling staff; and
- fee information associated with HIV C & T services.
Special features, such as multiple service sites, population-specific services, are also noted.
Information for this directory was updated from the last edition by a statewide survey of AIDS Institute-funded HIV C & T service providers, and other providers reimbursed by Medicaid for HIV C & T services. The data were collected between January 2004 and June 2004 by mailed surveys addressed to HIV C & T program directors (or equivalent) at various agencies. Follow-up phone contacts with providers were made to ensure that all surveys had been returned to the Institute.
Although every attempt was made to be thorough, this directory cannot be presumed to be exhaustive, and service information may have changed since data collection. Therefore, we encourage you to call service providers for current details. Finally , the directory lists only providers that offer HIV C & T services to the general public and agree to be listed. Other HIV C & T providers, particularly those with services restricted to inpatients and/or other staff, may not be included in the directory.
The NYSDOH AIDS Institute will update this directory periodically. Suggestions for revisions of, and additions to, the directory are welcome. Please use the correction form provided. Additional copies of the directory may be obtained by using the order form.