County Dedicates Antelope Valley’s 1st AIDS Clinic : Health: The Hope Center includes four examining rooms and a nurses station. One of its first patients has high praise for the staff.

Antelope Valley’s first AIDS clinic was dedicated here Thursday by county officials who said it would provide specialized care for patients who might otherwise have to seek treatment in Los Angeles.

The outpatient clinic, called the Antelope Valley Hope Center, includes a private waiting area, four examining rooms and a nurses station.

One of the clinic’s first patients said the Hope Center staff is much more sympathetic than the personnel at a local private physician’s office where he was told he had AIDS.

“They weren’t able to deal with the situation,” said David, 42, of Palmdale who asked that his last name not be printed. “They were very uncomfortable with it, and they made me feel very uncomfortable.”

By contrast, David said, the Hope Center staff was “very encouraging. They’re very positive. I’ve gone all over the (Antelope) valley to other doctors and have gone to a specialist in Newhall. But I’m most comfortable here.”

The Hope Center actually opened its doors to patients Aug. 12 in the county’s High Desert Hospital complex at 60th Street West and Avenue I in Lancaster. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies were delayed until Thursday, when county and city dignitaries were able to attend.

So far, doctors at the center have seen 15 patients.

In addition to treating his medical problems, the clinic has also provided a social worker who meets each week with David and his wife to discuss other issues arising from the diagnosis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome. “It’s been a great help,” he said.

“I thought I was well-informed, but I found out I wasn’t. They’re able to put you in contact with other agencies and support groups.”

Prior to the opening of the clinic, the only medical office specializing in AIDS treatment in the Antelope Valley was that of physician Susan Lawrence. She also founded the area’s only AIDS support and activist group, the Lancaster-based Catalyst Foundation for AIDS Awareness and Care.

Lawrence attended Thursday’s dedication ceremony and praised the new facility, which is being largely funded by a $300,000 federal grant for its first year.

“There are services provided here that we were not able to provide at Catalyst,” Lawrence said. “The treatment here is complementary with ours.”

The Hope Center, for example, will be able to dispense free AIDS drug treatments to some of the patients who are not eligible to receive them through Lawrence’s private practice, she said.

Lawrence said her group can supplement the county clinic’s operation by referring its patients to support groups and providing volunteers to drive them to medical appointments and help with household chores.

A key purpose of Thursday’s ceremony was to spread the word about the new county clinic, said Ray Johnson, assistant administrator of High Desert Hospital. He said the clinic is open to AIDS patients with private insurance and Medi-Cal coverage, as well as to indigents.

According to county records, about 125 people with AIDS were living in the Antelope Valley as of last May, Johnson said. He estimated that another 400 local residents have tested positive for the HIV virus that causes AIDS, but are not exhibiting symptoms of the disease.

Stephen Puentes, one of two physicians assigned to the clinic, said he wants to encourage people to begin treatment in the earliest stages of AIDS.

“Early recognition and early management equates to lower overall health-care costs,” he said. “We can prevent infections that could be life-threatening.”

Just preceding the dedication of the clinic, High Desert Hospital administrators released an independent review panel’s report that endorsed the county’s plan to replace the hospital with a new medical center.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich ordered the review after Antelope Valley Hospital officials complained that a proposed new county hospital would duplicate too many of its services, such as its emergency room and its childbirth facilities.

The review panel determined that High Desert, which opened in 1961, should be replaced with a more modern and more efficient facility. It also urged that the new hospital not include an emergency room or childbirth facilities, but that it should provide 24-hour urgent care services and mental health care programs.

Antelope Valley Hospital officials said they were satisfied with the report’s recommendations.

Although construction funds have not yet been approved, county officials hope to break ground for the 165-bed hospital in late 1995 at 30th Street West and Avenue I in Lancaster. * MORE NEWS

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