Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald (MH) - MON August 5, 1991
Susan L. Spencer; Herald Writer
Dr. Robert A. Freedman, an immunologist and infectious disease specialist, hopes to open the Institute for Advanced Immunology in North Palm Beach before the end of this year. The institute will provide on-site medical care, counseling and a pharmacy for people with AIDS. It also will arrange home care for patients.
Freedman said he feels a comprehensive center is needed to help ensure confidentiality and confidence in the treatment of people with AIDS. He said he wants the institute's patients to know that everyone there is comfortable treating people with AIDS and that they will not have to tell anyone outside of the institute about their disease.
"How does confidentiality work if I see someone with AIDS and then send them to the Eckerd's to get their AIDS medication?" Freedman said.
Freedman said he will not accept Medicare, Medicaid or uninsured patients because of the high cost of supporting an independent staff of nurses and other health-care professionals. He said once the business is on its feet, though, a portion of the profits will be used to treat indigent people who have AIDS. Dr. Jean Marie Malecki, medical director of the Palm Beach County Health Unit, said there is "definitely a place for the private server" in AIDS care. She wondered, though, what the institute's patients will do if they lose their health insurance -- as many people with AIDS do when they are no longer able to work.
Freedman said he selected North Palm Beach for the site because there are few infectious-disease specialists in the northern part of the county, but there is a large HIV-positive population there.
According to a July report from the Palm Beach County Health Department, there are 2,000 diagnosed cases of HIV-infection in the county. Malecki says the number of undiagnosed cases is probably 10 times that amount -- 20,000.
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