What Services Does Apicha Community Health Center Provide?

If you've typed "community health center nyc" into Google (or something like it), you already know there's more that goes on at a health center than just primary medical care.

So, we've put together a list of additional services we offer at Apicha Community Health Center alongside our standard primary care services (regular check-ups, medication prescriptions, vaccines, etc.) to help you decide if we're the right choice for you.

• Women’s Health Services: Family planning by a female clinician, contraception counseling and management including Norplant, rapid pregnancy testing, immunizations including HPV vaccine, pelvic exams, and cervical pap smears.
• On-site Pharmacy: Apicha CHC patients are able to fill their prescription at Apicha CHC and have access to reduced cost medication. Our pharmacists at our Manhattan medical clinic will work with your doctor to make sure that your medication is paid for by your health plan, or if you are uninsured, they will look for available resources for you. Learn more about our pharmacy here.
• Access to Services in Your Language: We believe all patients have the right to health care they understand. We have Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin speaking medical providers, access to a professional language line, and bilingual staff who are trained to assist in interpretation.
• Transportation Assistance: We know that sometimes finding money to buy a Metrocard to go to your doctor’s appointment can be difficult. That is why patients who live below 100% of the federal poverty level, or have Medicaid, can get a two-way metro card when they come for appointments.
• Access to our Secure Patient Portal: Our patient portal is a secure and convenient way to communicate with your primary medical provider, ask for medication refill, review your visit summary, your lab results and receive important health information and education.
• Mental Health Services: We offer mental health assessments, short-term counseling for things like depression, anxiety, gender identity, and referrals for long-term therapy for on-going conditions.
• HIV Specialty Care: All our medical providers also specialize in HIV care– you do not have to worry about being identified as HIV-positive by seeing a particular provider. Your dedicated provider will take care not only for your HIV, but any other medical condition you might have. This way, you don’t need to see multiple doctors and you can be sure that you are in good hands. You will get regular checkups for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, and STDs/STIs. You will receive necessary vaccines and cancer screenings appropriate for you. Getting your HIV care at Apicha CHC also means receiving annual mental health and nutrition assessments and counseling if needed. Our dedicated case managers that will help you manage your disease.
• PrEP and PEP: In addition to our HIV specialty care, we also offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (also known as PrEP), to our patients. PrEP is a new HIV prevention method for people who are HIV-negative to use in order to decrease the risk of becoming infected if they are exposed to the HIV virus. PrEP has been approved by the FDA and is shown to be safe and effective. 
• Anal Cancer Prevention Program: One of our newest services is offering our patients anal pap smears and, if needed, high resolution anoscopy and treatment for abnormalities.
• Transgender Health Clinic: We are committed to providing whole person Primary Medical Care to address the distinct needs of transgender and gender non-conforming, gender variant and genderqueer individuals. Specific services include initiation and maintenance of hormone therapy; annual physicals, regular checkups for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, HIV and STD testing, vaccines. We also offer competent and inclusive pelvic exams. Annual mental health assessments and short term counseling if needed or referral for ongoing therapy. Our case managers can also help you with many things from finding helping you with name and gender marker changes to helping you get transgender affirming surgeries if that is what you choose.
• Insurance Enrollment Assistance: If you are uninsured, we can help you find out if you qualify for insurance and help you get an insurance that is right for you. If you do not qualify for insurance, you might be eligible for state programs like ADAP and PrEP AP.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Enrollment Assistance: If you have a hard time making ends meet and do not have enough money to buy food for you and your family, our staff can help apply for the SNAP, formerly known as food stamps

We know choosing a medical provider is a big decision and we’d love for you to become a part of our family. If you have other questions about becoming a patient at Apicha CHC, we've put together a list of frequently asked questions, here.

If you're interested in scheduling an appointment with us, you can give us a call at (866) 274-2429 or click here to request an appointment and we'll have someone from Apicha CHC contact you to help schedule your appointment.

This blog was last updated March 2018.