HIV testing

The two clinics below are free:


Bushwick Clinic
335 Central Avenue (between Linden St and Grove St)
Brooklyn, NY 11221
phone: (718)573-4820 and (718) 573-4823
Map

STD Services, Emergency Contraception, Hepatitis B vaccine, Hepatitis A vaccine for high risk patients, Hepatitis C screening for high risk patients, HIV Counseling and Rapid Testing:
Monday thru Friday – 8:30am to 4:00pm (INTAKE CLOSES AT 12:00PM EVERY LAST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH FOR MANDATORY STAFF MEETING)


Travel Direction to Bushwick Clinic
By Bus: The # 46, at Utica Ave. bus, to Gates Avenue. Change for the # 52 at Gates and travel East to Central Ave. Walk on Central Ave., against the traffic, until you reach 335 Central Ave.

By Bus: The # 44 Nostrand Ave bus to Gates. Take the Gates Ave.# 52 bus to Central Ave.

To get to this Clinic from Crown Heights:
Walk to Utica Ave. and take the #46 bus to Gates. Change at Gates and take the # 52 to Central


Fort Greene
295 Flatbush Ave. Extension 2nd Flr.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
phone: 718- 643-4133
Travel Information:
#2, #3, #5 trains to Nevins Avenue
N, R, D trains to Dekalb Avenue
Map

STD Services, Emergency Contraception, Hepatitis B vaccine, Hepatitis A vaccine for high risk patients, HIV Counseling and Rapid Testing:
Monday thru Friday — 8:30-4:00 (INTAKE CLOSES AT 12:00PM EVERY LAST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH FOR MANDATORY STAFF MEETING)
Saturday — 8:30-1:00



Also, Planned Parenthood in Brooklyn offers confidential HIV testing to both men and women.

Good info from Flexi -- thanks!

You might want to consider anonymous testing, which is different from confidential. Anonymous testing means that your name is not associated with the test or the results in any way. You are given a pseudonym, number, or a code to identify yourself when receiving your test results. Confidential testing means that your test results and any other information you discuss with your medical providers will be a part of your medical record -- so a positive result (or a false positive, even if disproved later) could impact your ability to get health insurance later on. I'd strongly recommend getting anonymous testing first.

Here's a list of testing sites in Brooklyn from the NY State Dept. of Health, with details on what sort of testing options they offer. It's a PDF file, just so's you know:

HIV Counseling and Testing Service Providers - Brooklyn

Flexichick wrote: Yep - confidential and anonymous are NOT the same thing. I suggest putting some thought into which is right for you.

Also, I think most people think when they get bloodwork done for physicals, etc. that an HIV test is included. That's usually NOT the case unless you specify that you want one done. Hopefully doctors routinely discuss STDs and testing, but I think that's not often the case.

NY State law requires that you receive counseling before you get an HIV test and additional counseling before you are given your results (whether positive or negative) so there's no way you'd ever have one in NY without specifically requesting it.

Flexichick wrote: What I think is important is that people seem to think that if they ask their doctors for bloodwork as part of a physical (thyroid, diabetes, cholesterol), it does not include HIV as a matter of course unless you specify.

True dat.

Another argument for doing anonymous testing: the NY State Department of Health has in recent months been under fire from several HIV and civil liberties organizations because it requires that health care providers and other HIV testing agencies report individual medical data regarding HIV care and treatment to the Department of Health -- which violates state law. So until this is ironed out (which may end up happening through a lawsuit if the Department doesn't start complying with state law) I'd again recommend anonymous testing, because even if you think your info is being kept confidential the Department of Health may have it.

More details on this here and here.

Wait! I know/knew Mitch......