Grady Ponce De Leon Center

As the epicenter of the United States in HIV rates for adults and adolescents, Atlanta, GA became the home to America’s largest, most comprehensive facility dedicated to treating advanced HIV/AIDs in 1986, The Grady Ponce De Leon Center. 

Since the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990’s, however, the facility had not been significantly revamped or updated. In the 30+ years that has passed, everything from perception, to treatment, technology to floor plan needs have significantly changed. The Innovate Fund and three CDE partners worked together to provide allocation to assist in the rehabilitation of the facility’s five existing operational floors. 

The facility, which treats one out of seven persons living with AIDS in GA, where some neighboring zip codes have rates of HIV/AIDS that are six to eight times higher than the national average, will provide improved treatment facilities for dental, ECHO, infusion, imaging, lab, pharmacy, and social support services. The upgrades will provide for expansion of services in addition to bringing the building into compliance with current ADA regulations, improving security for patients and staff, and providing a dignified facility that does not stigmatize patients. 

The expanded services that the Ponce De Leon Center will be able to provide will support 9,000 annual unique patient visits, which is a 50% increase over the existing capacity of 6,000 unique patient visits. In terms of patient outcomes, the Ponce De Leon Center’s goal is to reduce HIV infections by 75% by 2027 and by 90% by 2032. 

The expanded and upgraded facilities are a vital part of the strategy for achieving these ambitious goals. 

“Grady Health is a leader in the global battle against HIV and needed a facility to match that leadership. The allocation from The Innovate Fund is an important part of our strategy for battling the disease effectively. As a super-safety net hospital, Grady has limited cash resources to fund the required facility overhaul and expansion project without the New Markets Tax Credit.” 

-Shannon Sale, Chief Strategy Officer at Grady Health System