COMMUNITY
Group plans to build AIDS health care facility
By Colleen Pohlig
Emerald Contributor
In recent years, long-term health r are for people top
ing with AIDS has I wen virtually non-existent in Lane
County, hut a new group has plans that they hope will
solve this problem
To receive long-term tare, lane County residents
AIDS are now forced to travel 75 to 100 miles away
from home to the closest hospice, a long term r are fa
cility. often leaving their friends and family behind.
A lor til group of citizens and medical professionals
i tilling themselves the lone County AIDS Hospice Ser
vices Ini: has begun making plans for a facility that
would provide comprehensive health rare to patients
who need different levels of assistant e
"The general itlea was to create a facility for long
term can? and also a hospice, whit li is defined as a fi
nal plat e to take < .ire of people with AIDS w ho .ire go
ing to die. said Dr |ohn Kedfield .1 Kugene plivsir ian
and meitilwr of I lospit e Servii ex Ini
The program plans to operate on funds front the Slate
Disability Services Division, .is well as on revenue ob
tained through government. corporate, foundation, or
private grants and lor al fund-raising
Then? are only a few resources available for pimple
with AIDS here in Kugene The W ill.unette AIDS Coun
cil provides free information, education and support
services tor people with AIDS Slianti. a local volute
leer-based agency provides emotional anil practical
support to people with AIDS or HIV (Human Immuno
doficienr \ Virus), as well as to their friends, family and
loved ones.
Kmily lleilhrun. the client services coordinator at
Shanti. has discovered there are throe main frustrations
that people with AIDS talk to her about most
Although most people with AIDS carry stale medical
cards that enable them to receive medical ami dental
benefits, lleilhrun said many local dentists will not
treat them
"The dental aspect is a problem because there is a lot
of reil tape involved." Heilhron said. "Plus I'd imagine
the dentists who refuse to take medical cards do so be
cause of the low amount they get reimbursed for
AIDS patients are frustrated with the lack of health
care in general for people with acquired immune defi
ciency syndrome. Ileilhrun said
Also, at least one pharmacy in Eugene has refused to
give people with AIDS some of the prescribed drugs
they need because the stale cannot afford to reimburse
the store for the full amount of some of the more expen
sive drugs. Heilbrun said
AIDS is an expensive illness; cost of (are may range
from $25,000 to more than $200,000 during a patient's
lifetime, according to the hospice group's report
7 think we’ve been ignoring the
problem of AIDS and by ignoring /
mean that most people still think it
doesn 7 affect them.'
— Dr. John Redfield
"AIDS is intiri' expensive as lln* thing wears on,”
Redfield said "Peopli! with AIDS sometimes have to
take 12 to 1 fi different pills a day. plus there may he
several visits to the doc tor a month in some ( ases
"If the person is in the hospital, it takes a lot of peo
ple and a lot of hours to take t are of that person, so the
amount could be very high." Redfield said
In 1-ane County, the numtxir of AIDS cases has more
than quadrupled since September 19H7. when the num
Ix-r stood at 13 cases At of the end of September 1990.
59 AIDS cases and 34 deaths had been reported
Even though the numlier of AIDS cases continues to
rise, then- is still no long-term health c an- for AIDS pa
tients in lame County. One facility in Eugene that tried
to provided such services, the Carper House, closed in
1‘IHH due to lack, of funds and clients.
I^me County is "certainly behind" in getting a hos
pice. “and it means we re overdue.” Kedfield said. "I
think we've been ignoring the problem of AIDS, and by
ignoring I mean that most people still think it doesn't
affect them."
Despite the increase in education about AIDS in the
last few years, the number of cases continues to rise
drastically, with statistics indicating a growing number
of cases among the heterosexual population.
"The high school students especially are not giving
any thought to the problem." Redfield said. "They still
think it only affects the gay or drug-using populations,
not them. They see the posters on the bus or at school
but young heterosexual couples it just washes right
over them."
The attitudes of college students about the problem
of AIDS is not much different from those of high school
students, said Dr. James Jackson, medical director at
the 1 Iniversity's Student Ilealth Center.
" There is evidence that states that more college stu
dents are using condoms." Jackson said. "However, on
i ainpus. they (students) still see AIDS as "other"
somebody else's problem, and that is the highest-risk
attitude you can have."
Many students take advantage of the Health Center's
confidential HIV'antibody blood testing. Jackson said.
"There are things that can be done to prevent full
blown AIDS like taking the drug AZT or other drugs,"
|.u kson said. "So. there are other reasons to get tested
than just to be sure there an* things that can lie done
to prevent the immune system from going down."
Another frightening thing is that AIDS is hidden in
the campus population, Jackson said.
"It's a hidden problem on campus because they're
(AIDS victims) going to get out of college before they
find out they even have the illness due to the incuba
tion period lasting usually ten years," Jackson said.
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