HJNO Jul/Aug 2021

34 JUL / AUG 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs DCHCOffers Free Groceries to the Community with SHFB’s OrderAhead Initiative DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) to distribute free food at DCHC’s Carrollton warehouse on the fourth Friday of every month through July 2021. There were no income require- ments, and the program was open to everyone. The food is provided via SHFB’s OrderAhead initiative, which enables persons experiencing food insecurity to order food from a food bank or agency and pick it up at a convenient community location, drive-thru event, home delivery, and/or locker. OrderAhead expands access to charitable food through a discrete and convenient click-and- collect grocery ordering system that reduces the physical and social barriers encountered by indi- viduals facing food insecurity. DCHC’s Community Health Navigators assist individuals with accessing the grocery ordering system. Additionally, DCHC seeks the commu- nity’s help with donating cleaning supplies (i.e., bathroom cleaners, paper towels, dishwashing liquid, and laundry detergent) that will also be given to food recipients. For more information or to sign-up for OrderAhead or to donate clean- ing supplies, contact Zwena Moore-Randolph, DCHC’s director of business development and community engagement, at Zwena.moore@ dcsno.org or (504) 236-5667. Access Health Louisiana Provides Free Home HIV Testing Kits with Virtual Testing Assistance The Access Health Louisiana network is now offering free home HIV testing with virtual test- ing assistance. The free home HIV testing and virtual testing assistance will give individuals an opportunity to connect to the care and resources needed for prevention and long-term treatment. “Today, we have several tools in our ‘HIV toolbox,’ ranging from prevention to long-term treatment,” said Lauren Fidelak, director of HIV Outreach Ser- vices at Access Health Louisiana. “For example, we now know that if the copies of HIV in a per- son’s body or the viral load reach an undetect- able level, they cannot transmit HIV to an inti- mate partner. Viral load suppression is achieved by taking antiretroviral therapy, or ART, and for many people living with HIV, this is only one pill once a day. This concept is called undetectable = untransmittable, or U=U, and it is one of the most important parts of our HIV toolbox.” Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, if taken daily, is highly effective in preventing new HIV infec- tions. There are several programs across the country, such as Ready, Set, PrEP!, that are mak- ing PrEP increasingly accessible to all who need it, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. “PrEP is like birth control. Birth control pills prevent an unplanned pregnancy tomorrow, while PrEP will prevent an unintended HIV expo- sure today,” says Mark Alain Déry, DO. Déry is the chief innovation officer and infectious diseases physician with Access Health Louisiana. Test kits can be ordered by calling (504) 500- 8904, emailing hometest@accesshealthla.org , or through the survey on the Access Health Louisi- ana website under “Free Home HIV Testing.” If you have any questions about the program, call the Home HIV Testing Warmline at (504) 500-8904 between 8 a.m.-10 p.m. any day of the week. CIS Performs Rare Aortic Valve Replacement Peter Fail, MD, interventional cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS), per- formed a rare bioprosthetic aortic valve replace- ment on a patient at Terrebonne General Health System. This procedure is unique in that the patient had already undergone three previous aortic valve replacements — two surgical (one was replaced) and one through an interventional procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). As opposed to a surgical valve replace- ment, TAVR eliminates the need for open heart surgery and uses a catheter-based technique to go through the groin, meaning a faster recovery for the patient. Now years later, due to heart failure and severe symptoms, the patient’s heart required a fourth valve replacement. Fail chose to place a new transcatheter aortic valve (TAV) inside the old one. For this patient, this procedure is called a “TAV in TAV in SAV” referring to a “transcatheter aor- tic valve in a transcatheter aortic valve in a surgi- cal aortic valve.” This situation is extremely rare. “As rare as this is today, we will see more of these complex cases as TAVR has become the dominant strategy for many patients with aortic stenosis and degenerated aortic valve prosthe- sis,” explained Fail. “The lifetime management of aortic stenosis is the ultimate goal, and many different strategies will be needed in the years to come.” Valve replacements treat severe aortic steno- sis, a narrowing of the aortic valve opening of the heart. Grant Supports Internship in Research Laboratories for High School Students The LSU Health Foundation announced that The Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foun- dation made a grant of $100,000 for a project that supports high school students in interning in the research laboratories at LSU Health Sci- ences Center. E. F. Hunter, president of the Brown Foundation, presented the check to Henry Miller, the chairman of the Health Foundation board. “We are excited to support New Orleans high school students who might have an interest in STEM research as a future career. The students will each have men- tors who guide their work and introduce them to cutting edge science projects in LSU labs,” said Hunter. Students will be drawn at first from two local high schools: St, Augustine Catholic High School and Warren Easton Senior High School. Most of the students will be placed in the laboratory of Dennis Paul, MD, professor of pharmacology, where Kelly Sherman, MD, will be their primary Peter Fail, MD