When APLA Health (then AIDS Project Los Angeles) established a dental office that served HIV positive clients, it was in response to the lack of these services being available anywhere. In fact, that trailer in West Hollywood Park was the very first dental office in the entire nation to cater to the needs of people living with HIV. In those days, the stigma against HIV was so intense that dentists could take courses teaching them how to legally turn away or get rid of patients. It was also common practice for dentists to double up on their protective equipment, such as gloves and masks, out of fear that they would contract HIV/AIDS. To this day, we still have clients telling us about dentists who took these extra “precautionary” steps or turned them away. Therefore, providing dental care to people living with HIV quickly became a vital part of APLA Health’s services.

Today, APLA Health has 20 dental chairs at four different locations across Los Angeles County. We are able to offer general dentistry services to our patients as well as connect them to specialist services through USC and UCLA’s Schools of Dentistry. This is all available to our patients for free or on a low-cost sliding scale. With our transition to a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2014, we provide services for anyone, regardless of HIV status, income, or insurance.

Expanding to multiple locations, opening our doors to everyone, and being the first dental provider for people living with HIV has allowed us to break down the limits that keep people from seeing the dentist, including cost, stigma, and ease of access. Make no mistake, however, about the conditions of our dental sites. The days of providing dental work in trailers are long behind us, and today we offer first-class services in first-class buildings.

Looking forward, APLA Health is constantly shifting and adapting to reach new goals and better serve our clients. Dr. Steven Vitero, APLA Health’s Dental Director who oversees all four locations, has a few goals in mind as well. He would personally love to expand the residency program to allow for more residents at once. He not only appreciates having the extra help at the clinics but also thoroughly enjoys working with and mentoring these young professionals. Dr. Vitero would also like the opportunity to offer specialist services on-site, instead of having to refer patients out. This change would remove the step of having to visit multiple locations and dentists, and increase the likelihood of patients staying in care and getting the services they need.

The people who choose to work at APLA Health do so because they understand our core values, and it fills them with pride to offer critical services to those who need them most. Angelica Barajas, our Clinic Director, started in 2008 as a Dental Assistant. She recalls a time when a patient insisted she would not be able to x-ray him without making him gag. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Angelica walked the patient through breathing exercises and kept him informed of every step she took during the procedure. The patient, never having received an x-ray without discomfort, was so surprised by her gentle nature and expertise that he hugged her, thanked her, and immediately told her supervisor.

Angelica still remembers this moment well, and it keeps her fulfilled and optimistic on even her toughest days. Dr. Vitero says he is happy to be at APLA Health because, in private practice, concerns regarding payment and insurance issues prevented him from being able to focus solely on providing his best work, and he also remembers a specific procedure in his career here that he found particularly rewarding. A patient sat in his chair one day who had been living with broken teeth for 20 years. All the patient had received from other dentists (if they didn’t turn him away for being HIV positive) were shoddy fillings that only temporarily treated the problem. Dr. Vitero was able to give this patient his first actual crown, and the patient was so overwhelmed that he began to cry. Dr. Vitero knew then that treating those who have been avoided and overlooked due to HIV status or income is far more fulfilling than any work he’d done in the past.

From the beginning, APLA Health has always been committed to providing healthcare equity to underserved communities, including the LGBTQ population and people living with HIV. Today, we stand by that mission even more with more locations, more clinicians, and more opportunities. For more information on our dental program, visit aplahealth.org/services/dental-care.

It is predicted that by 2020, 70% of people living with HIV will be men over 50. HIVE is designed to improve the health and well-being of these men by addressing the burdens that impact them. This program will facilitate the self-efficacy of members of this population, many of whom are “long-term survivors” of HIV/AIDS, to improve their quality of life.

The HIVE program uses the following methods:

• Shared interest groups
• Life skills support
• Health education
• Community building/social networks

HIVE has hosted a series of health education dinners, coffee chats, and bowling nights and will introduce a monthly movie night in 2019 to its growing base of more than 100 constituents.

HIVE has an active Community Advisory Board (CAB) of 10 persons living with HIV over 50 years old who have advised staff on the program. The CAB was part of a successful launch party that brought together a hundred of their peers in an evening of support, dining and entertainment.

HIVE is continuing to develop new curricula that will be implemented in 2019 across the Los Angeles to interactively address stigma, trauma, resilience and cognitive thinking in smaller, safe groups. For more information on the program, please contact Brian Risley at brisley@apla.org.

Over the span of more than 50 years, Quest has developed countless innovative diagnostic information services, with several firsts for clinical laboratory tests in areas such as women’s health, genetics, infectious diseases and cancer. For example, the company was the first commercial laboratory to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for a molecular Zika test.

Quest provides services that empower people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from the world’s largest database of clinical lab results, the company’s diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve healthcare management.

There is clear alignment between APLA Health’s mission to achieve healthcare equity and promote well-being for the LGBT and other underserved communities and people living with and affected by HIV, and Quest’s vision of working with healthcare providers and patients to empower better health with diagnostic insights. APLA Health’s work to improve health for underserved communities compliments our commitment to educating, empowering, and strengthening diverse communities.

Quest has a deep commitment to our patients, employees, the environment, and the communities in which we work and live. We are proud to support community initiatives and nonprofit organizations that share our values, such as APLA Health, which provides vital prevention and care services.