Recently honored as one of the top 15 teaching hospitals across the nation, UC San Diego Health System commemorated the achievement last Saturday by hosting the Hillcrest Community Celebration.

Children played in a Finding Nemo astro jump, the scent of barbecues wafted on the breeze and more than 20 health-related booths provided health screenings for vision, blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol.

“We’re here to benefit all the individuals in Hillcrest community. Part of the reason we’re doing this event is to solidify our presence in Hillcrest, as there are a lot of rumors and talk we were moving out of the community,” manager of government and community affairs Zachary Schlagel said. “We wanted to make everyone know that this is completely false; we’re here to stay. So we’re very proud to be serving the LGBT community. We’re the number one provider of HIV and AIDs care in the county.

We have a rabbit-test program, and they do HIV tests from the vans. They basically go to community fairs, and it takes only 20 minutes to get results. This is the only clinic in general who does this.”

Several organizations attending the Hillcrest Community Celebration also assist and benefit GLBT individuals who seek knowledge about and medical assistance for HIV, such as the UCSD Medical Center, the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center and the Owen Clinic.

Located in the heart of Hillcrest, The Owen Clinic is the largest primary provider of HIV services in San Diego and not only treats, but also provides extensive education for diagnosed patients. It accepts unfunded and funded individuals and serves about 3,000 active patients. The clinic also assists in mental health, nutrition, and drug and alcohol counseling.

“Many of the staff members and some of the founders of the original Owen Clinic are from the LGBT community,” Owen Clinic health education coordinator Chris Thomas said. “So not only are many staff members serving the LGBT community, but we’re also from the community. So it gives us a lot of perspective to know what it’s like. So we’re not just talking the talk, and we’re able to provide services without judgment.”

Thomas has recently noticed an assortment of new types of patients.

“For the past year I haven’t noticed an increase in HIV exposure.” Thomas said. “But there has been a massive increase of patients because of the economic downturn who are losing jobs and losing private health care and have to access community-based HIV services for the first time. So almost daily, I am seeing patients from all different walks. Men, women, straight, gay, mothers, fathers, and grandfathers who have been employed for years, but for the first time they need to maintain the continuity of their HIV care and the Owen Clinic certainly serves that need.”

In UCSD’s HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center booth, community outreach representative Acintia Robinson said that the HRNC conducts research on those living with HIV, AIDS and individuals who are HIV negative. The HRNC studies mostly involve how Hepatitis C and methamphetamine affect the brain.

Robinson said GLBT individuals have been participating in these studies for years.

“A lot of people have been there for 25 years, and they see it being on the cutting edge of medicine and it helps them from them from infecting others,” Robinson said. “So it keeps them from making the community wider. I wish more people would get involved with the research so it could help them understand HIV and AIDS.

UCSD also promoted its The Early Test, which identifies whether individuals are HIV positive prior to being infected, as HIV takes four to six weeks to develop an antibody test result.

“The difference between the early test and the standard test is that you only have to wait seven days after an exposure to get tested, as opposed to three months,” outreach and education manager and intake coordinator Jack Degnan said. “So it’s a better test for HIV that we do at UCSD. We do it at several sites in San Diego, and it’s free and confidential.”

Overall, most of the booths present at the Hillcrest Community Celebration were there to promote awareness and show community members the many services available to them.

“We don’t just serve insured people,” Schlagel said. “We serve quite a few uninsured and underinsured patients in the LGBT community, so we see a lot of patients able to access care. Overall, UCSD makes up about eight percent of the overall market in San Diego. But we serve 38 percent of the uninsured and underinsured individuals in the county.”

“It was really great to see all these services that are out there,” San Diego GLBT resident Briana Silman said. “Most hospitals don’t really take the time to promote themselves like this and show you what they are all about.”

Schlagel estimated that about 500 to 700 individuals attended the festival.

“We ran out of food toward the end, and that’s always a good sign,” he said.