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Residents of the east Coachella Valley will soon have a sexual wellness resource available, as DAP Health’s new clinic is expected to open July 11 in Indio.
The new Sexual Wellness Clinic, at 81-719 Dr. Carreon Blvd. , Suite D, is open from 8 a. m. m. to 5 p. m. Monday to Friday.
Within the new area there are 3 examination rooms, a laboratory and a medicine room. A multitude of facilities will be available, adding tests for HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections, adding gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis, as well as remedies for STIs. The clinic will also provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to HIV-positive clients, as well as a quick start for HIV-positive patients (the first two visits will be free). Resources for Case management, links to prEP care, and navigation will also be available.
Tests and remedies are confidential and free of charge, in the health care organization.
About five staff members, plus a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse practitioner and a case manager, will work at the site, according to CJ Tobe, director of fitness and sexual wellness at netpaintings. He estimates that between 16 and 20 clinical patients will be treated. each and every day, with the aim of caring for about 1,000 patients per year.
It is recommended to make appointments at the DAP Health Indio clinic, appointments are also accepted. To make an appointment, call 760-656-8424.
Tobe said DAP Health has been looking for tactics to grow in recent years as the number of consumers and desires increases, especially in the eastern Coachella Valley.
About 300 East Valley patients visited the palm Springs main campus to access sexual health over the past year. About 60 patients are also taking PrEP, a drug that other people at risk of HIV take to reduce their risk of infection.
In addition, many patients who have tested positive for HIV or some other STI rely on treatment facilities that may not be as easily found in the region.
“They don’t drive that far just to get tested every two months, they used to come here because they desperately want to be treated,” Tobe said. “The need for those facilities is out there. “
Tobe’s patients in the Eastern Valley have been contacted to schedule follow-up appointments at the Indian Clinic.
The Palm Springs campus at 1695 N. Sunrise Way will offer more outdoor sexual wellness, such as primary, dental and intellectual care. Tobe said “it’s anything we would consider. “
Many other people could choose to drive miles to Palm Springs only to be identified by entering a sexual wellness clinic or facing the stigma attached to that, Tobe said. One of the benefits of Indio’s location is that it is in the same construction as the dental offices. , a kidney specialist and a women’s fitness clinic, so someone may request care for various things.
Alex Sykora, a sexual wellness nurse practitioner, said it’s also not unusual for many families to spend appointments together, which might not make other people feel comfortable raising questions or considerations about sexual and reproductive health.
“Offering another clinic to get them is beautiful, because other people can separate the things they need to be left alone when they may not have a circle of family members who are understanding or even just well-informed,” Sykora said.
Tobe added, “If that patient needs to continue driving to Palm Springs because they feel safer and want a Lyft card or a fuel card, we’ll help them do whatever works for them. In the Indio clinic, as long as a patient makes the decision to admit him, he will feel at home, he will feel comfortable, he will not suffer any stigma, nor shame. “
In particular, DAP Health to create a welcoming atmosphere on the new site by calling Indian artists Cece Cruz and Evelyn Sofia Rivera. Known in combination as Women Murals, they created a colorful mural that evokes the pride of the Coachella Valley.
Stretching along two walls in the patients’ waiting room, the portrait features a colorful golden sun, mountains in other shades of pink and purple, a large box with a giant tree, and thorny cacti.
DAP Health chose the colors, many of which come from its logo, while the design belonged to Cruz and Rivera. They drew another 3 sketches and turned to the network to vote for what they wanted to see in the clinic. The end result was a combination of the 3 because the electorate liked them all, Cruz said.
“I looked for the sun to be huge,” Rivera said of the design. “When you faint, the sun hits you hard, so I looked for it to be like that, but (it gives off) heat. “Cacti were also part of his comic strip to show his love for the desert.
The fresco lasted about 3 weeks. Each of the exam rooms also has an accessory wall that reflects one of the colors of the DAP Health logo.
Cruz’s hope with the mural is that other people “feel at peace, feel [at home] and feel encouraged and safe. “
Rivera echoed the fact that a sense of security is a very sensible priority because other people “don’t communicate about sex like we should,” he said, which may lead some to wonder if they “should communicate about the issue. “Even though going to a doctor’s workplace can cause anxiety in some, she hopes the mural will counteract her by offering her “relaxing energy. “
Covers of Ema Sasic and fitness in the Coachella Valley. Contact her on ema. sasic@desertsun. com or twitter @ema_sasic.
This article was originally published in Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indio’s New DAP Health Clinic to Open July 11 and Bring More Resources to The East Coachella Valley