Shelby, operations manager and executive assistant for Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, has won a Dr. A. Brad Truax HIV Service Award by Bobby Depriest, who is the pharmacist Shelby worked with to set up our nPEP and PrEP Walgreens Partnership program that allows patients at all of our sites to get PEP when and where they need it. The awards are given annually to recognize the outstanding contribution made by individuals involved in the struggle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our community.
Because PEP is time-sensitive (much like emergency contraception), and the financial assistance programs that patients use for the expensive medication is on the east coast (therefore not accessible starting at 2:00 p.m. on Friday in California) and does not operate on weekends, Shelby and Bobby created the bridge for these patients to get PEP on Friday afternoons, Saturdays, and Sundays. The Walgreens HIV-Specialized Pharmacy essentially “comps” the meds to the patients during these timeframes, and gets reimbursed once the financial assistance program is open again on the following Monday. The Walgreens HIV-Specialized Pharmacy also provides the meds to any Walgreens pharmacy of the patient’s choice; they have special delivery services and they transport the meds to any Walgreens location the patient chooses in any of our three counties.
The ceremony was on December 1 at the San Diego LGBT Center, and Shelby won the award for Outstanding Service in HIV Planning, Advocacy, and/or Policy Development. Many San Diego community health partners were in attendance, including San Ysidro Health Center, The SD County Public Health Department, and the UCSD HIV/AIDS Clinic.
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