St. Mary’s CARE Center will continue to provide services to thousands of residents in the LGBTQ community.
A 10-year culmination of planning, designing and acquiring funding has come into fruition in the form of a new medical care center for Long Beach’s LGBTQ community.
St. Mary Medical Center unveiled its latest renovation on Dec. 1, the $2.3 million CARE Center equipped with all new equipment and furnishings, and the same irreplaceable services for its patients.
The CARE Center was established in 1986 as the nation’s first managed network providing comprehensive care to those living with AIDS and HIV. Today, the CARE Center mostly focuses on preventative treatment through PrEP and PEP as well as housing assistance, mental health services, a food bank, dental services, social services and health education.
For the first time ever, all of its many services are in one building on the hospital’s campus, complete with a new mural by local artist Sergio Ramirez and an art installation honoring those who have died from AIDS this year.
“People, especially those who have seen us over the years, have been amazed [at the renovation] and can’t believe the new space. It’s like you’re walking into a spa in Beverly Hills,” said Paul Lovely, executive director for St. Mary’s CARE Center.
Lovely has been with the Center for nearly 25 years, the last six serving as its executive director. When he first started, his job was to organize the pill trays for patients, an overwhelming process that involved multiple pills all on different schedules and inviting various side effects.
“People were living, but it wasn’t a great quality of life,” Lovely remembered.
Now most patients come in for PrEP or PEP, a one-a-day medication that helps prevent HIV/AIDS, or they’re coming in for different types of services altogether. Lovely explained that the landscape of services needed have drastically changed. Most people that come in are asking for housing assistance or wanting to talk with a therapist.
The CARE Center helped 2,274 patients in 2022, over 1,300 of them needing HIV services and over 300 of them needing PrEP or PEP. It’s the largest HIV services provider in South Los Angeles County, according to hospital reports.
The shift has also changed the funding landscape, as patients coming in for preventative services don’t qualify for federal grants. Lovely said they’ve had to get much more “creative” to fund their social and mental health services.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the clinic’s mission to help anyone in the community, whether a patient is underinsured or uninsured. Forty percent of PrEP patients served at the CARE Center are uninsured.
The CARE Center also assists people who get their medical services elsewhere and need assistance with their insurance’s co-payments.
Residents can visit the CARE Center at 1040 Elm Ave. on the second floor in Suite 200 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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