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Historic Clinic a Giant in SF AIDS Fight Ward 86, which will be the beneficiary of funds raised from the San Francisco Giants' Fourth Annual "Until There's A Cure Day" on Sunday, Aug. 31, will get a welcome facelift with proceeds from the event. The hard-working clinic has logged an estimated 300,000 patient visits since it opened in 1983 in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. It was one of the first facilities in the nation designed specifically to care for patients with a puzzling immune disorder about which little was then known.
San Francisco recorded its first cases of the mysterious illness in 1981, as increasing numbers of gay men were diagnosed with a constellation of obscure opportunistic infections and cancers that researchers gradually recognized represented an infectious disease. When Ward 86 opened, the disorder had only recently been given a name--acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS--and the cause of the disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), had not yet been identified. The need for a dedicated clinic was increasingly apparent as the numbers of San Francisco AIDS patients rose. Space was available to house an AIDS clinic at San Francisco General Hospital on the sixth floor of building 80 (hence the "Ward 86" designation) and the State and City enjoyed budget surpluses to help fund the endeavor. The founding medical staff consisted of codirectors Paul Volberding, MD, an oncologist, and the late Constance Wofsy, MD, a specialist in infectious diseases, with oncologist Donald Abrams, MD serving as assistant director. Two nurses and a clerk rounded out the staff. The clinic provided approximately 300 AIDS and oncology appointments a month, most for the treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). Its mission was simple. In keeping with all programs at the county hospital, the AIDS Clinic cared for anyone with the disease, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin or ability to pay. The Clinic and the inpatient unit that opened later that year at SFGH, were the first formal components of what is now the internationally recognized UCSF AIDS Program, under the direction of Paul Volberding, MD. The many patients who have come through the clinic have provided clinical data that led to important advances in therapy. The clinic helped to test many of the early treatments for AIDS, such as aerosolized pentamidine for PCP prophylaxis, AZT to delay the onset of AIDS, and the use of ganciclovir and foscarnet for CMV retinitis, and has helped to develop treatment regimens with multiple antiretrovirals that have strikingly improved the health of many HIV infected individuals in recent years. From the early days, the Ward 86 staff and their inpatient counterparts were exceptional in their ability to work with people facing the frightening prospect of a painful, life-threatening illness about which so little was known. Indeed one of the major contributions of the UCSF AIDS Program has been the development of a widely accepted model for effective and compassionate HIV care. Today, under the medical direction of John Stansell, MD, Ward 86, which also goes by the names of the PositiveHealth Clinic and the UCSF/SFGH AIDS Clinic, offers a constellation of clinical services by more than 75 medical care providers. Approximately 3,000 patients are enrolled in the clinic. The clinic's physical plant, however, has yet to equal the excellent reputation of the services it provides. The facilities are antiquated and designed to serve less than half the number of patients currently seen. Proceeds from the Giants event will support upgrading the facilities to ensure that they are more user-friendly. The renovations will allow easier patient flow with new signage, double doors and nurse stations; assure improved safety through security buzzers and corridor windows; increase lighting and color with new fixtures and floors; and expand storage with new cabinets and shelves. By Leslie Lingaas 1st appeared 8/25/97 |
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