FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2024
Contact: Brian Reardon
40 Years On, Catholic Health Care's Work to Combat HIV/AIDS Continues
This week, we observe National Faith HIV & AIDS Awareness Day, reflecting not only on the progress made in the national and global fight against HIV/AIDS, but also on Catholic health care’s current and future commitment to
continue our mission-based work to educate, treat, and care for vulnerable populations impacted by this disease.
Since the height of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s, annual new cases in the U.S. have reduced by more than two-thirds, and between 2018 and 2022 alone, new HIV infections decreased by 12 percent, according to the most recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Over the past four decades, Catholic health care institutions have been at the forefront of caring for communities confronting elevated risk for HIV/AIDS – both here in the United States and around the globe. Last year, the Catholic Health Association
of the United States (CHA) published Hold Out Your Hand: Stories from the Catholic Health Care Effort During the Global AIDS Crisis – a compilation of oral histories and stories from religious men and women, priests, and doctors who played crucial roles in caring for patients with HIV/AIDS during the early days of the global AIDS crisis.
The stories detailed throughout Hold Out Your Hand – based on archival interviews conducted by America Media correspondent Michael O'Loughlin – not only preserve history, but also provide an in-depth look at the important role Catholic
institutions and health care ministries played in addressing the public health crisis, helping us apply lessons learned to the challenges facing the church and health care community today.
As O’Loughlin writes in
the foreword: “Reflecting on history can be an important tool in helping to guide our future.” The interviews capture the gravity of the challenges that faced Catholic health care institutions addressing confusion surrounding the relatively
unknown virus in its early days, as well as the importance of continued efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in marginalized communities today.
At the former Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center in New York, Sister Karen Helfenstein, S.C., found herself at the epicenter of the HIV crisis during the 1980s and 90s. As Vice President for Mission at the Center, Sister Karen
remembered: "my friends would
call it mission impossible." She also
recounted how, early on,
Catholic medical professionals carefully navigated public health recommendations with the ethical directives of the Catholic church:
“We talked to the nurses and doctors who believe that their professional responsibilities included fully educating a patient about what they could do to protect themselves and their partners. I said, we will not keep good quality nurses and doctors if we try to prevent them. And that’s our primary mission, to provide excellent care.”
In reflecting on advancements in HIV treatments in the 21st Century, Father Jon Fuller – a Jesuit priest and medical doctor – said the advent of modern pharmaceuticals such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) were “the most
important development in HIV” over the past decade. Nevertheless, Father Fuller lamented that Black and Hispanic communities – including many undocumented people – remain hard to reach, creating a persistent challenge in stopping
transmission of HIV among vulnerable and marginalized populations. He says the key is for medical professionals to seek out faith communities and other community organizations as partners to encourage more people to test and, if necessary, seek treatment
for HIV:
“'They’ve got to gain the trust of the community, so they really need to work with local organizations, parishes, community centers, and religious communities. Those are our ways to access a community, by asking a pastor to say, We trust this team, please come to our center and talk with them about trying to sign up for care.’”
Following the publication of Hold Out Your Hand, O’Loughlin joined CHA's Health Calls podcast to discuss his 2021 book Hidden Mercy, and reflect on the continued
legacy of Catholic health care in addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis and other epidemics:
“There was this insistence that the Gospel could be lived out in a multicultural, pluralistic society, and I think we’re seeing that play out today. The tensions will give way to solutions, and we’ll look back at this time and explore how Catholic health care ministry responded with agility in order to respond with compassion.”
Today, the mission-centered programs of Catholic health care institutions like the Comprehensive AIDS Resource Education (CARE) Center –
part of Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, California – reminds us that the work to deliver compassionate care to the most vulnerable is never over. Going beyond just testing and medical treatment alone, the CARE Center and
its staff of about 50 serve approximately 2,000 people annually, including providing behavioral health, nutrition services, spiritual care, and social services to individuals and communities afflicted by HIV.
Randy Hope, social services manager and former patient at the CARE Center, says historic, live-saving advancements have drastically improved the lives and outlook for people with HIV or AIDS, if they adhere to the appropriate drug regimen and maintain
habits to boost their immunity.These groundbreaking medications are very expensive, but the Center can provide them at no cost for those without coverage.
As one patient, Ramon "Ray" Ramirez, recounted: “If it wasn’t for the CARE Center, I don’t think I’d have this quality of life.”
Hold Out Your Hand ends with a reflection from Paulo Pontemayor and Dennis Gonzales, PhD, who are both Senior Directors at CHA:
“The courageous people of Catholic health care — clergy, male and female religious and laypersons — have been at the forefront of caring for those living with HIV/AIDS since the beginning. Our past can only strengthen us to move forward, to remember that even in the darkest times of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Catholic health care was there, meeting the needs of individuals who had few places to turn.”
By reflecting on this history, we find that even during seemingly intractable public health crises that stretch resources to the limit, the Catholic health care ministry consistently answers the call to stand up for the least among us. Even with advancements
in modern medicine and technology, it remains critical to preserve, defend, and expand public programs that enable Catholic health institutions to provide accessible care for underserved and vulnerable American communities.
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The Catholic Health Association of the United States is the national leadership organization of the Catholic health ministry, representing the largest nonprofit provider of health care services in the nation.
- 1 in 7 patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital each day.
- Catholic health care, which includes more than 2,200 hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, systems, sponsors, and related organizations, serves the full continuum of health care across our nation.