Hospital Opens First AIDS Unit in Valley

Sherman Oaks Community Hospital has opened a special treatment center for AIDS victims in an effort to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding number of such patients in the Los Angeles area, a hospital spokesman said.

The 10-bed unit, the first of its kind in the San Fernando Valley, is designed to serve as an area center for research and treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, said N. Marc Goldberg, the hospital’s chief executive officer.

Goldberg said the unit, which is already full, began treating AIDS patients exclusively Aug. 1. He said the hospital is planning to spend $700,000 to model the unit after a prominent AIDS treatment center at University of California, San Francisco.

The unit was designed to treat victims of the disease while assuaging the fears of other patients at the hospital by isolating AIDS patients, Goldberg said. He also said the hospital is negotiating with the federal Food and Drug Administration in an effort to begin using specialized “research drugs” to combat the disease.

“Los Angeles County is facing an AIDS epidemic, and every hospital in L. A. County has AIDS patients,” said Goldberg, who estimated that there will be 20,000 new AIDS cases in the county during the next five years. “What we’ve done is create a unit where we can direct all of the intensity of our services in one direction.”

AIDS, a largely fatal disease that destroys the body’s immune system, primarily affects homosexuals, although it is not confined to that group. The disease, which has no cure, is believed to spread through sexual contact, blood transfusions and the use of contaminated hypodermic needles.

On average, Goldberg said, an AIDS patient will spend 30 days in the hospital receiving specialized treatment for a variety of ailments. Because of the length of the hospital stays, as well as the controversy surrounding the disease, Goldberg said the new center will offer counseling and a variety of other social services to patients.

Goldberg, who said the unit might be expanded, added that he does not expect the unit to harm the hospital’s business. He said he also does not expect objections from members of the hospital staff.

“We would hope that people will be more at ease knowing that there is a lot of expertise (available),” he said. “We are dealing with an epidemic. . . . You can’t keep your head in the sand.”