Avita, a national pharmacy services organization with a focus on the LGBTQ community, announced its acquisition of Atlanta medical center and pharmacy AbsoluteCare Atlanta last October. The acquisition will mean a rebranding and expansion of the AbsoluteCare Atlanta location in Peachtree Hills as well as a broadening of Avita’s impact beyond pharmacy services into health services.
“We felt, because of our knowledge and subject matter expertise in pharmacy, specifically in the LGBTQ community, that we could expand to be more than just a contract pharmacy and that we could expand into health services,” Avita CEO Michael Yount told Georgia Voice.
For more than two decades, AbsoluteCare Atlanta has offered comprehensive primary care and pharmacy services to the LGBTQ community. An HIV Center of Excellence, AbsoluteCare Atlanta serves more than 5,500 individuals, providing clinical care and life services to its patient base.
AbsoluteCare Atlanta has been rebranded and renamed to AvitaCare Atlanta, and the office and waiting space will be remodeled. The pharmacy will be relocated to become more accessible to patients and there will be an expansion of HIV testing to address Atlanta’s HIV epidemic.
“That facility has a lab and the ability to provide rapid testing, so we’re looking to expand the functionality of that lab so we can become a destination for individuals that wish to get rapid HIV and STI testing,” Yount said.
Avita’s refresh of AbsoluteCare Atlanta is expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The acquisition also brings a team of 70 employees to Avita, many of whom are health care providers like doctors, nurse practitioners, and physicians.
“As we spoke with many of our partners — we have over 350 covered entity partners across the United States — some of the challenges that they face, as you would imagine, is the inequities in health care, it’s the stigmas patients face, and it’s also access to dependent providers,” Yount said. “Many of our clients, regardless of what areas they’re located and their size, have a challenge in identifying and maintaining consistent access to providers for their patients.”
In all, the acquisition maintains Avita’s commitment to compassionate health care for the LGBTQ community.
“I believe that patients, whether it’s in a pharmacy or clinic space, should feel safe,” Yount said. “They should have trusted, confidential conversations with staff: from the doctor or physician’s assistant they’re seeing to the front office staff and even the back office staff. They should feel confident that their medical information is being treated with respect.”
To learn more about AvitaCare Atlanta, visit avitacareatlanta.com.