Riverside Sexual Health Clinic staff on a professional development day.
By Michael McDowell
When it comes to sexual health care, New York City has got you covered.
For New Yorkers seeking confidential, walk-in testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)—including HIV—the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene (DOHMH) operates eight sexual health clinics in four of the five boroughs.
This includes the Riverside Sexual Health Clinic, located in the well-appointed, recently renovated Riverside Health Center at 160 West 100th Street, on the Upper West Side.
Riverside is open Monday to Friday, and patients are seen on a first come, first served basis, with intake from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No appointment is necessary, and services are available regardless of whether or not a patient is insured or is able to pay the sliding scale fee. Patients are not obliged to disclose their insurance information and a bill will not be sent to their residence.
“Payment should never be a barrier to coming to get services,” emphasized Sarah McKenney, director of external affairs at DOHMH’s Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Sexual health clinics are supported by a mix of city, state, and federal funding.
“We are able to offer basic STI testing and treatment to anyone 12 and up who walks through our doors. No matter who you are, you can walk in and get testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV,” she reiterated.
“We do not require or request parental notification or consent, and services are completely confidential. We do not even ask for insurance information for anyone under 19…we don’t use names, and for minors in particular we take great care and have specific confidentiality policies in place.”
Confidentiality policies not only protect minors—and the rest of us—but also undocumented immigrants.
“We do not ask about immigration status,” McKenney affirmed.
Some staff at Riverside are bilingual (English/Spanish), and all staff have access to LanguageLine translation services.
Aside from basic STI testing and treatment, HIV prevention options including post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, are available.
“We offer the full course of PEP, the full 28 days, as well as PrEP navigation,” McKenney said.
PEP is a medication which reduces the risk of HIV infection in HIV-negative people who have come into contact with the virus, whereas PrEP is an oral pill taken once a day to reduce the risk of infection.
What is PrEP navigation? Riverside—and all of the sexual health clinics—do not have capacity to provide regular PrEP care, but can assist patients in determining how to locate the best option that meets their long-term needs.
“We have staff who are experts in making sure that people can get linked to PrEP. We’re an on-ramp for PrEP, as well as HIV treatment, so if someone is newly diagnosed in our clinic, we can initiate HIV treatment,” she said.
Emergency contraception, or Plan B, is also available. Social workers are on site for those who have been a victim of a sexual assault, and can advise patients on facilities that offer evidence testing or a rape kit. Abortion services are not offered, but the clinic is able to refer patients to providers.
Other contraceptive options, however, are available.
“For eligible patients, we can provide the pill, the patch, the ring, or the depo injection, but that’s only as a result of a conversation with a doctor or a nurse practitioner, depending on what a patient’s needs are,” McKenney said.
“Unfortunately, at this time someone is not able to walk in, and say, ‘I want the pill.’—we’re not offering that as a walk-in service.”
On an unannounced visit, the Rag found a spotless facility and a knowledgeable, professional, and caring staff. A few patients sat in a demure, orderly waiting room, where free condoms and a variety of literature pertaining to sexual health were on hand.
Riverside has 31 staff members, including two doctors and one nurse practitioner, and recorded 10,281 visits from 6,914 patients in 2018. All sexual health clinics citywide recorded 87,329 visits from 54,095 patients last year, and while some locations are at capacity, that’s not the case at Riverside—meaning that it could serve more patients.
The center has been particularly concerned about Hepatitis A since the city raised alarms following an increase in infections in 2017, including a cluster of cases that was near the Upper West Side.
“We would love to get more men who live in the neighborhood to get their Hepatitis A vaccine,” McKenney said. “We do offer sexual health vaccines, and it’s a relatively underutilized service. We offer vaccines for HPV, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Meningitis.”
What else are the clinics seeing more of, across the city? Syphilis and gonorrhea.
According to data released in June of this year, cases of primary and secondary syphilis increased by 9 percent, from 1,799 in 2017 to 1,960 in 2018. Although the vast majority of these cases are among men, primary and secondary syphilis cases among women increased 30 percent, from 69 in 2017 to 90 in 2018. Reported cases of gonorrhea also rose by 11 percent, from 23,491 in 2017 to 26,072 in 2018. Gonorrhea cases have also been rising more steeply among men.
“People shouldn’t wait until they feel sick or until they have symptoms to get tested. If you’re having sex, come get routine testing,” McKenney urged.
How often should Upper West Siders seek STI testing?
“It really depends on the person, for sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, we might recommend every 3-6 months. For others, it might be less frequent than that. When people come to our clinics, they can talk to one of our providers and say, this is the type of sex I have, how many partners, etc., and providers can help recommend how often they should be tested,” McKenney explained.
How many New Yorkers do the sexual health clinics aspire to serve?
“We want to serve anyone that needs safety net sexual health services. We want to provide these services for anyone that needs them.”
“31 staff members, including two doctors and one nurse practitioner”. What medical facility is that when only 10% of the staff are health professionals??!! Sounds like another waste of public funds. To be clear, having a facility that provides these services is great, but make it more efficient and cost effective.
interesting response. how would you staff your clinic?
Oh boy. Do they have parking?
“We do not ask about immigration status,” McKenney affirmed.
Thank goodness. So our tax dollars pay for an illegal alien’s free access to “the pill, the patch, the ring, or the depo injection.”
Prevention is a fraction of the cost of prenatal care, delivery, raising a child, or treating a sick adult or child. That’s money well spent and exactly where I like my tax dollars to go. All New Yorkers deserve quality health care.
“So our tax dollars pay for an illegal alien’s free access to “the pill, the patch, the ring, or the depo injection.”
Thank HASHEM we’re taking care of our public health crises, no thanks to the xenophobes.
Do you know any doctor or a clinic actually asking about immigration status?
This article is a great public service, making the community not just aware of the clinic but also answering some questions likely often unasked given the topic. Thank you!
No help for people with Herpes then.
Apparently one in 4 people in NY have it. Or maybe more.
Very painful and impossible to treat. However, why not provide meds. to help people out?