Richland Community Healthcare Association

HIV Testing Services

The purpose of the HIV counseling and testing service is to identify and provide early intervention for persons who are at risk of becoming infected or who have become infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). RCHCA offers rapid (oral and finger stick) and conventional (blood draws) testing at all our locations and in outreach settings.

If you have any of the below behaviors or anything you feel has put you at risk; you should be tested for HIV:

· having sex (all forms: vaginal, anal, mouth to anus or sexual organs) while using drugs

· heterosexual injecting drug users

· partners of heterosexual injecting drug users

· persons who share injecting drug using equipment

· persons who provide sex for drugs / money

· persons with a sexually transmitted disease diagnosis

· victims of sexual assault

· hemoglobin / blood recipients

· health care exposure

· males who have sex with males

· women who have sex with women

· males who have sex with males and who also are injecting drug users

· mothers who transmit HIV / AIDS to fetus

· tattooing or piercing

If you test positive:

You will benefit from medical treatment linkages to other care established by the treatment provider. This may be an important gateway for engaging HIV infected persons into full treatment for HIV infection, which would both improve the quality and length of their own lives and reduce the chances that they will transmit HIV to others.

If you test negative:

You will be supported with continued HIV education and post-test sessions, which offer opportunities to gain a better understanding of the meaning of a negative test result.