HIV Testing & Counseling

PPNYC offers testing and counseling for HIV (the virus that leads to AIDS) to both women and men. To make an appointment, call (212) 965-7000 or (800) 230-PLAN.

• PPNYC offers rapid HIV testing, with same-day results, at our three health centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. On Tuesday - Saturday, you can make an appointment just to have an HIV test or to have an HIV test as part of a GYN/family planning visit. In some cases, it may be more appropriate for a patient to have a blood test for HIV that does not yield same-day results, but will yield results in 1 - 2 weeks.
  
  
• HIV-education counseling is a routine part of every visit to a PPNYC center. Discussions generally begin with a provider or family planning counselor asking what the patient knows about HIV and AIDS and whether she or he has been tested for the infection. The provider/counselor conveys information about how HIV can and cannot be transmitted, and about risk behaviors that increase the chances of infection.
  
  
• HIV pre- and post-test counseling is mandated by the New York State Department of Health for anyone choosing to take an HIV test. Before taking an HIV test, every client receives pre-test counseling that helps prepare him or her for the test and the period of time between testing and receiving the result which can be an anxious time. Before the test, the counselor discusses the various medical, psychological, and emotional issues related to getting tested for HIV.
  
  
• To ensure confidentiality, the HIV test result is given in person.  The counselor also provides emotional support and, if necessary, support to help the patient cope with the fears and difficulties of testing positive for HIV infection. The counselor discusses the need to contact any previous partners to prevent the spread of the infection; a referral can be made to public health officials to help with partner notification. (In July 1998, a partner notification law was signed into law by the governor of New York. This law took effect in January 1999 and requires the names of all individuals testing positive for HIV to be reported by health care providers and labs to the State Department of Health.) The counselor also uses this critical time to reinforce how important it is to seek early medical treatment and to provide referrals for medical and emotional support. PPNYC can also provide case management for anyone testing positive, to facilitate entry into medical care and access to other needed social services.

Planned Parenthood of New York City also works to prevent the spread of HIV through Project Street Beat, our street-based program that reaches out to those at highest risk for HIV. 

Through the HIV Integration Project, we help family planning providers to provide HIV services and integrate them with their other services.