Rapid Start...

 

According to this piece & others.  The Oklahoma State Department of Health has created a new Rapid Start & PrEP program.  They sound promising but are bit vague.  

The program will run through county OSDH offices.  A Nurse Practitioner will handle the cases.  If the person is negative they will be put on the PrEP side.  The rapid start aspect is to get those who are HIV+ on meds & receiving care within 3 months of diagnosis. 

There are about 7,000 HIV cases in the state.  If you   add those in that don't know they are infected that number could be considerably higher. The articles don't go into detail where treatment will be handled.  It'd be great if this was handled at the health department.  That'd mean a lot less travel.  Right now, there are only  2 places in the state.  Tulsa is 2 hours from me & OKC is over 3 hours away.  

Another detail left out, was cost.  How much & who's paying.  This will be expensive & many can't afford it. Unless there  are monies to handle this, I don't have  hope for the program.  Even at my worst, I never qualified for anything directly from Ryan White.  If I hadn't been declared disabled & put in medicaid, I'd be without medical coverage.

I hope this program succeeds.  The state needs it.  Maybe eventually, I'll have other options besides  Tulsa.  That'd be nice.  Right now, I'm doing well with them, but that could change.  Without another option, I'd be stuck.

Cya...