HIV Testing to Start Again at Pierce College

HIV testing will resume at Pierce College after a five-month cessation due to the Los Angeles Community College District’s request for a contractual change limiting its liability.

Testing was stopped in October when the district requested that the Northeast Valley Health Corp.--a private nonprofit organization that offers anonymous HIV testing as part of its services--accept full responsibility for potential lawsuits stemming from the testing.

The health corporation agreed to assume the liability, according to Mark Henrickson, HIV division director. Along with Pierce Health Center Director Beth Benne, he said resumption of testing was delayed by a typographical error on the new contract, which listed the wrong college as the campus provider.

During the downtime, Beene said, the clinic received at least three requests daily for the free testing offered to students, faculty and staff and the general public. Typically, HIV testing is offered every few months on the campus. Beene said as many as 300 students over a four-day period have participated in testing in the past.

The next dates for HIV testing at Pierce College will be in late April, she said.