The University of Alabama at Birmingham 1917 Clinic, the largest HIV health care unit in Alabama and one of the country’s preeminent HIV clinics, has relocated to the Dewberry Building located at 3220 Fifth Ave. South in Birmingham’s Lakeview district. It opened its new doors to the community and more than 3,600 active patients Dec. 15.
In its new location, the 1917 Clinic has 50,664 feet of space, a substantial upgrade from the previous clinic located on 20th Street South, which was deemed no longer a sustainable option for the needs of the clinic in 2019. The clinic will be increasing from 13 exam rooms and one procedure room to 27 exam rooms, two procedure rooms and four clinic offices dedicated for mental health/substance use counseling services.
“This move will allow for increased capacity to meet the existing and burgeoning need for HIV comprehensive multidisciplinary care and support service to people with HIV and the community,” said clinic director James Raper, Ph.D., CRNP. “It also allows us to more effectively do outreach to identify persons with HIV who are not engaged in care, and simultaneously do outreach and provide PrEP services to people at risk for HIV.”
Raper shares that the newly developed space at Dewberry will allow clinic teams more efficiently provide care to patients without the previous space constraints and in a new state-of-the-art ambulatory facility.
In addition to the clinical component of moving to the new space and tripling in size, the clinic’s entire enterprise has move as well, including but not limited to a dedicated UAB Hospital 1917 pharmacy, the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic, Alabama Clinical Trials Unit, the Multicenter AIDS Cohort study/Women’s Interagency HIV Study Combined Cohort Study, and all patient support services, as well as its dental, Hepatitis-C, endocrinology, nephrology, neurology, chronic pain care, nutrition and psychiatric specialty clinics.
The location of the Dewberry Building is a critical component to the success of the 1917 Clinic, the health of its patients and the future of UAB’s growing campus. It is located on a major public transportation route with ample parking, and these factors are intended to provide easier access for the 1917 patient population and keep them coming back for care. It also provides an easy route back to UAB’s nuclear downtown campus for physicians, researchers, staff and patients.
While the 1917 Clinic occupies the majority of the Dewberry Building, Birmingham AIDS Outreach has space in the building as well, which is indicative of 1917’s mission to work with community partners and agencies to support all patient needs.
“This move will provide renewed synergy between 1917 Clinic and BAO as community partners in the fight to end the HIV epidemic while addressing the immediate needs of the HIV community,” Raper said. “I am excited about the decades of HIV patient care ahead of us in this new space.”
In its three-decade tenure, the 1917 Clinic has grown from an unassuming clinic at 1917 Fifth Ave. South to an NIH-funded facility with a staff of more than 150 that has treated more than 12,000 patients with HIV. 1917 Clinic has also received HRSA Ryan White Early Intervention Service funding since 1997; this funding helps support outpatient health services that deliver care to those infected with HIV. The clinic has also received federal funding to implement HIV care into other practices and is an education and training arm for the Southeast region.