The philosophical orientation of the HCT is to identify and address all the needs of infected children and those at risk and of their families. The team maintains a close relationship with patients and follows them closely, providing the majority of medical and psychosocial care for HIV infected children on an outpatient basis that limits and prevents unnecessary and costly hospitalizations. Thus far, the team has proved successful as indicated by the average daily censusof less than 1 HIV-infected children. The PID Family Clinic meets 2 days a week, with a clinical case management conference held on a third day. Medical services are provided for the children by Pediatric Infectious Disease attendings, post-doctoral fellows, a pediatrician,with a dermatologist and a pedodontist available on call.
Psychologists provide developmental testing.
Many of the children being followed have enrolled in a variety of ongoing trials through the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group. HRSA funding supports a Physician Assistant in the TOPS program, who will also staff the CFPC s mobile van serving street kids on the Lower East Side one evening a week. In addition to the outpatient program, children requiring intravenous infusions during the course of their illness are seen in the Pediatric AIDS Day Hospital. While these children do not routinely require hospitalization, they do require 4-6 hour periods of observation with adequate nursing and physician supervision. The Pediatric AIDS Day Hospital provides the medical, nursing, psychological, and social support services these patients require, maintaining an organized and efficient delivery of care, as well as providing a facility in which innovative treatments can be developed and implemented.