AETC in Washington

Upcoming Trainings in Washington

Washington Activities

The Washington State Office of the NW AETC is affiliated with the HIV clinical center of excellence in Washington State, the Harborview Medical Center's Madison AIDS Clinic in Seattle. This Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act, Part C clinic has been in existence since 1991 and is the largest HIV clinic in the Pacific Northwest, serving over 1,300 HIV-infected patients per year. The NW AETC has successfully collaborated with the Madison AIDS Clinic since 1992 to develop and implement training and clinical preceptorships for health care providers.

In addition to training offered through the Madison Clinic, the NW AETC also partners with other HIV- and health-related agencies to bring state-of-the-science clinical education opportunities to health care providers throughout Washington. Currently, these agencies include: the Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center; the Reproductive Health Training Center (through the Center for Health Training in Seattle); the Addiction Technology Transfer Center at the University of Washington; the University of Washington Schools of Dentistry, Health Services, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy; and other local, regional, and national health-promoting organizations, such as the Association for Nurses in AIDS Care. Alone or in concert with these institutions, the NW AETC continues to explore and develop new and innovative approaches and technologies to meet the ongoing continuing education needs of health care providers across the state.

Washington Contacts

David Lee
University of Washington
901 Boren Ave, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 543-3319

Rachel Clad
Northwest AIDS Education and Training Center
901 Boren Avenue, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 221-4964

Minority Provider/ Minority-Serving Projects

Tribal BEAR Project

The Northwest AIDS Education and Training Center's Tribal BEAR (Building Effective AIDS Response) Project provides tribal clinics with state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS care and treatment training.

The Tribal BEAR Project operates in Montana and Idaho through the Salish Kootenai College (SKC) of the Flathead, and in Washington State and Oregon through the South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA). The primary purpose of the BEAR Project is to build the capacity of tribal health clinics, IHS and/or regional care facilities to respond to Native persons living with HIV and AIDS, in their communities. The Tribal BEAR program brings together physicians, nurses, traditional healers, pharmacists, case managers, mental health and chemical dependency counselors, dentists and nutritionists to participate in trainings and preceptorships on HIV care and treatment, so that local providers can offer comprehensive health care to American Indians living with HIV/AIDS.

The Tribal BEAR Project also works to link key resources, both on and off the reservation. By building bridges between tribal and non-tribal agencies, American Indians living with HIV/AIDS will have the freedom to make choices that best meet their individual health care needs.

Tribal BEAR Project Contacts in Washington

Jutta Riediger
South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency
3104 SE Old Olympic Highway
Shelton, WA 98584
(360) 462-3224

Michael Maxwell
South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency
3104 SE Old Olympic Highway
Shelton, WA 98584
(360) 462-3225

African Americans Reach and Teach Health Ministry Training Project

African Americans Reach and Teach Health (AARTH) Ministry is a faith-based capacity building nonprofit organization established to respond to HIV/AIDS and other major health issues affecting people of African descent. AARTH’s mission is to build the capacity of churches and faith-based institutions that serve people of African descent through education, access to resources and self-advocacy for better health care services.

African Americans Reach and Teach Health Ministry is a subcontractor of the NW AETC’s Minority AIDS Initiative Program at the University of Washington.

Goals of this project include the following:

• To develop and implement culturally relevant HIV/AIDS early intervention and care curricula, training strategies and activities for African American churches and faith-based institutions in the WAMO Region.  
• To develop and implement culturally relevant HIV/AIDS curricula and training strategies for professionals providing care, treatment, education and needs-based services for their African American (native and African born) HIV positive patients in the WAMO Region. 
• To build capacity within AARTH, African American churches and faith-based institutions, which will equip them to provide early intervention and care services for individuals in congregations and communities impacted by HIV/AIDS.

African Americans Reach and Teach Health Ministry Contact

Rev. Mary Diggs-Hobson
7728 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 850-2070
WWW.AARTH.org

¡Projecto Cultivar!: Latino/Migrant Farm Worker Training Project

The Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC) is a community/migrant health center established in 1978. It provides a variety of services (medical, dental, mental health, educational training, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, WIC, and community health services) to Hispanic, Spanish-speaking, and Migrant/Seasonal Farm Workers in Washington and Oregon. Through its ¡Cultivar! program, the YVFWC provides culturally competent care to first generation monolingual Hispanics in the Yakima Valley region. The mission of the YVFWC is to improve the quality of life for farm workers, the underserved, and others as we work to strengthen the health of our communities.

The New Hope Clinic is a nurse-managed Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act, Part C Clinic in Yakima, WA and is a division of YVFWC. It provides medical, nursing and dental care, as well as nutrition support, counseling, outreach, and case management for people living with HIV/AIDS in Yakima and throughout central Washington.

The main goal of New Hope Clinic's contract with the NW AETC 's Minority AIDS Initiative Program is to develop and provide HIV/AIDS training to clinic providers who primarily serve Latino migrant farm workers with HIV or who are at high risk for HIV infection and have limited access to medical care.  This includes instructional clinical training programs, as well as a Rural Nursing Preceptorship program.

¡Projecto Cultivar!, New Hope Clinic Contacts

Debra Adams
602 E Nob Hill Blvd
Yakima, WA 98901
(509) 453-7144

Sunshine Gomez
602 E Nob Hill Blvd
Yakima, WA 98901
(509) 453-7144   Ext 3245

HIV/AIDS in Washington

Through December 2007, a cumulative total of 16,741 HIV/AIDS have been reported (12,105 AIDS cases and 4,636 HIV cases). Of those, 9,842 HIV/AIDS cases are currently presumed living.

According to the Washington State/Seattle-King County HIV/IADS Epidemiology Report (select "2007 2nd half"), there have been substantial shifts in the proportion of persons newly diagnosed with HIV infection among different groups. Between the three-year periods 1999-2001 and 2005-2007, the proportion of cases has decreased for both MSM (from 66% to 61%) and heterosexual transmission (from 12% to 6%), although undetermined/other transmission has jumped from 7% to 20%.  Black/African American males (from 12% to 16%), and all Black/African Americans (from 17% to 22%). The proportion of cases among white males has decreased (from 61% to 55%), has remained steady among Black/African-American males (at 14%), and has increased among Hispanic males (from 9% to 12%).

For more information, please contact the Washington State Department of Health.