DeeJay Johannessen

PrEP available free of charge in Tarrant County, regardless of insurance status

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com

Fort Worth’s HELP Center for health and wellness has been so successful in its first year of offering PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) that it’s opening an office in Arlington. Since opening its PrEP program, business has been booming, the center’s executive director, DeeJay Johannessen, said.

“We thought we’d have 120 people the first year,” Johannessen said. “We just surpassed 400.”

The clinic provides free PrEP treatments that use the HIV medication Truvada administered to people who test negative for HIV to prevent transmission of the virus. At HELP Center, all medications as well as lab work are included at no charge, regardless of insurance status, to eliminate financial barriers to prevention.

Johannessen said his is one of only two such clinics in the country. What surprised him has been the clients who’ve traveled from as far away as Odessa to access the clinic’s services.

After an initial visit, clients who have never been on PrEP before are required to return for a one-month follow-up to check blood work. After that, they have to return every three months for checkups.

Johannessen said side-effects reported by clients have been minimal. Some clients have called saying they’re feeling bloated or have other gastro-intestinal reactions. Those symptoms pass in a few days. Out of 400 people the clinic has already put on PrEP, only one had to stop because of side-effects, and those went away when the patient stopped taking the medication.

But even if some people can’t take PrEP, those on the medication are reducing the community viral load, which reduces the chance of transmission. “For the first time since we began this fight, we have the ability to have an HIV-free generation,” Johannessen said.

The organization’s other programs include transgender health and wellness. “We’ll start with hormone replacement therapy,” Johannessen said. And as with its PrEP services, office visits, labs and medication will be provided free of charge.

The new clinic, which will have three exam rooms, will be at 200 E. Division St. in downtown Arlington.
Johannessen raved about the cooperation he’s gotten from the city of Arlington. “They waived permit fees,” he said.

“They’re working well with us.”

He said that included approval of the sign in downtown Arlington that will read in big letters: Health Center for LGBT Health and Wellness.

Contact HELP Center about accessing services at HELPFW.org.