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CORE Center was the first Midwestern
outpatient facility to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS care beginning in the
1990s. Clients of the Chicago-based center have access to medical services,
dental care, a pharmacy, research trials, and case managers. Fees are based on
a sliding scale.
In 1994, the fledging CORE enlisted
the aid of former Playboy Enterprises CEO Christie Hefner. Serving as project
director, she helped the center exceed its capital campaign goal, raising more
than $30 million by 1998. In a 2005 interview with TimeOut Chicago, Hefner said
she “put together a board representing people in the business community, the
arts community, the public sector, and the medical sector. Also, we did
something quite innovative, which is put together a community action council
... the idea was that the people who were actually going to be the patients
ought to have input into how the facility was designed and the kind of programs
it would run.”
The facility, now known as the Ruth
M. Rothstein CORE Center, currently serves more than 15,000 clients per year.
One of the center’s most innovative programs is the Continuity Clinic, which
targets those recently released from incarceration. Clinic doctors work at CORE
and in Cook County Department of Corrections’ facilities, in order to ensure
patients can access the same provider post-release.
Helping clients stay in care is a
top priority at CORE. The center participates in Project IN-CARE, a linking
service for men of color, and in a federally funded program that helps
HIV-positive women of color connect with and stay in care.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
