Lauderdale Student Health center recently partnered with Trillium Health to prevent the spread of HIV and other STIs. Emergency medication is also available for students who believe they have been exposed to HIV (Ash Dean/former photo Editor).
On Feb. 5 Trillium Health began operating at Lauderdale Health Center to provide students an opportunity to be prescribed “PrEP.” PrEP, formally known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a daily medication that works to eliminate the risk of contracting HIV.
In its partnership with Lauderdale, Trillium, the largest provider of PrEP in the area, is now able to provide the campus community accessibility to medications like PrEP and a wide range of other services.
Mary Beth Walker ‘00 currently serves as the Director of Marketing and Communication at Trillium. Walker said that consistently taking PrEP aids in building a resistance to HIV. This enables someone who has come into contact with the virus to stay protected.
“If you come into contact with someone who has HIV and you have been taking prep consistently for over a month or six weeks or so, your body will actually build up a resistance to the virus,” Walker said. “You will have a 99 percent chance of not contracting the virus.”
Trillium’s services do not stop at PrEP. The company is now offering an array of other services, including testing, treatments for Hepatitis C and other STDs and an emergency medication called PEP.
According to Walker, PEP is a pill that is taken if someone has potentially been exposed to HIV and believes they may be at risk for contracting the virus. PEP significantly reduces the chances a user has of contracting HIV when taken within 72 hours of exposure.
Walker said that Trillium’s access to PEP and PrEP stem from their expertise in HIV prevention and care.
“Because we are experts in this area, we have access to medications that can be treated in an emergency,” Walker said. “Even though there is no cure, there are many ways that you can protect yourself and prevent the transmission of HIV.”
Walker said that the partnership with Geneseo is a first for Trillium.
“This is the first time that we have had this sort of arrangement on a college campus,” Walker said. “Trillium Health is going to have a staff member at Lauderdale student health center on the second floor during certain hours where students can go and ask questions, get tested and be connected to a medical provider via telemedicine to see if they are a good candidate for PrEP medication.”
According to Trillium’s mission statement, the company serves to make its healthcare services affordable and accessible. With a commitment to health equity, including LGBTQ friendly services, Trillium’s company values reflect their firm belief that finances should not prevent people from being able to seek treatment.
With Trillium’s new partnership, the cost of PrEP can be minimal and even free with insurance and financial assistance programs.
Dennis Adley, a member of the Trillium staff who will be present on campus, explained that Trillium can make PrEP and PEP as close to free as possible. Most insurances cover PrEP, Adley said, and what insurance does not cover, New York State assistance programs can help to alleviate the cost.
“We can get it for most students for either free or as close to free as possible. If you have insurance, most insurance covers it,” Adley said. “We do have New York state assistance programs that can help offset the cost for whatever insurance does not cover, but the majority of our patients pay either nothing or very little for PrEP.”
On top of this, Trillium can work with patients who seek confidentiality.
“There should be no concern for confidentiality because that is always something that we can work with too,” Adley said.
In April 2015, New York State established a goal of ending the AIDS epidemic. Earlier this week, the NYS AIDS Institute released new guidelines about PrEP. The conclusion of this guideline was that PrEP is an essential component to ending the epidemic, yet it is underutilized in communities that are greatly affected by HIV, according to the NYS AIDS Institute.
Walker said that it is important to remember HIV does not discriminate and can affect anybody.
“It is important to remember that HIV does not discriminate against people,” Walker said. “If you feel like you might be at risk for contracting HIV, we really encourage you to come in at least have a conversation and learn more about this medication because it is going to protect not only you but the whole goal is to end the HIV epidemic through prevention.”
Adley said that PrEP allows patients to take control of their sexual health.
“It is, especially for college-age students, a really great way of reclaiming your sexual health and taking control of it in a very easy step, which is just one pill once a day for HIV prevention,” Adley said. “Because I think that is one of the most appealing parts about it, the ease of use is it is just a pill that you take every day and then HIV is the least of your worries.”
Director of medical services for the Lauderdale Health Center Steven Radi said that they are excited that Trillium has come and begun providing services for the campus.