Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center

 

The CORE Center is the largest outpatient clinic for the treatment of HIV in the Midwest, serving more than 25% of persons with HIV/AIDS in Chicago. Founded in 1998, it currently provides state-of-the-art, coordinated care to HIV patients. It is the largest HIV outpatient care facility in the Midwest and one of the largest in the country. In 2003 it provided more than 21,000 visits to patients from Stroger Hospital and other Cook County Bureau of Health Services (CCBHS) facilities.

As part of its grant management services, the Hektoen Institute administers hiring personnel and payroll for the CORE Center. Out of a total of 357 current Hektoen employees, 129 of them (which represents 37% of Hektoen’s staff) work at the CORE Center for various research projects and services programs. Hektoen manages CORE Center research and services provision grants awarded by HRSA/Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act (Parts A, B, C and D), NIH, CDPH, IDPH, CDC, SAMHSA and local foundations such as the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

As another site of the Bureau’s Coordinated HIV Program, the CORE Center provides comprehensive services to patients with no or limited access to care. These vital services include outpatient primary care, mental health, psychosocial, dental, substance abuse, medication adherence, outreach/prevention and case management services as well as access to participation in research protocols. CORE is also a site for the CDPH rapid testing program where patients are screened and tested in the CORE’s Screening Clinic as well as Stroger Hospital’s Emergency Department. Recent projects awarded to CORE Center researchers and administered by Hektoen include the H-STAR Project which will enhance the existing on-site substance abuse program and Project POWER which is a four year HIV risk reduction intervention development project that addresses the HIV prevention needs of Black-bisexually active men.

For more information on CORE Center, check their website at: http://www.corecenter.org