The University of Rochester Medical Center has been caring for patients with HIV infection since the beginning of the epidemic. Strong Memorial Hospital’s AIDS Center gained designation as a center for excellence in HIV/AIDS Care by the New York State Department of Health in 1987. This designation allows for increased services, coordinated care, and a wide range of programs that would otherwise be unavailable.
The AIDS Center is dedicated to providing high quality, comprehensive, multidisciplinary care to persons living with HIV and their families. The Center also offers support systems in both inpatient and outpatient settings. These services are provided across a number of programs.
The AIDS Center is certified as a Level 3 NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent national organization that reviews and accredits managed care plans and measures quality.
PCMH is a model of care that strengthens the physician-patient bond by replacing episodic visits with coordinated care and long-term, mutual relationships. This strong team approach to care, coordinated by a patient’s own physician, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, emphasizes prevention, early intervention and close management of chronic diseases. Each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal medical provider who leads their team at a single location, through which there is a collective accountability for care, providing for the patient’s health care needs and arranging for additional services with other clinicians.
