Central Los Angeles : HELP ARRIVES
When Vitalina Samayar discovered that she is HIV-positive, she was confused, helpless and five months pregnant.
Emergency Medi-Cal covered AZT treatments long enough for her to deliver a healthy baby who has since tested negative for the virus that causes AIDS. But after Medi-Cal ran out, she did not know where to turn for assistance.
Finally, one medical facility that refused to see her gave her a telephone number for Women’s Care Center, a new medical and social services facility especially for HIV-positive women at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in East Hollywood.
Like Samayar, most of the 40 women who have received care at the 3-month-old center were infected by their husbands or boyfriends.
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