HUMC Hosts Youth World Aids Day for Area High School Students

The AIDS Outreach Program at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) hosted a prevention-focused conference on December 1, known nationally as “World AIDS Day,” for area high school students and their teachers, school nurses, and guidance counselors, at the Hilton Hotel in Hasbrouck Heights. The goal was to increase AIDS awareness and educate students further about the disease and how to prevent it. The motto of the conference was “Stop AIDS – Keep The Promise.”

A total of 15 high schools participated this year, including: Bergen Tech, Cresskill, Dwight Englewood, Dwight Morrow, Fort Lee, Hackensack, Lincoln, Mahwah, Passaic County Tech, Ramsey, River Dell, Rutherford, Teaneck, Tenafly, and the Connections GED Program.

The event included a welcome from Maryann Collins, RN, patient care coordinator and outreach director at HUMC. Ms. Collins introduced a group known as “Reflections,” a teen improvisational group that is run through the Bergen County Department of Human Services - Division of Family Guidance. “Reflections” started off by passing around the microphone to students and asking them to complete the sentence, “When it comes to the issue of HIV and AIDS, I really don’t like it when…” to facilitate discussions on stereotypes and getting to the truth about the disease. The teenage “Reflections” actors performed a series of improvisational skits, meant to mock real-life scenarios involving teenage drinking and unprotected sex, to try and teach the students how to safely and responsibly react to potentially dangerous situations.

After hearing from a gentleman living with the HIV virus, students got to interact with a physician panel composed of HUMC doctors. The panel included Steven Sperber, M.D., chief of Infectious Diseases; Samit Desai, M.D., Department of Infectious Diseases; Julia Piwoz, M.D., chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases; Gary Munk, Ph.D., director of Clinical Virology; and Jerome Levine, M.D., Physician Compliance Officer. Dr. Levine received a special award in his honor from the Department of Patient Care, acknowledging him for his efforts in making World AIDS Day a success for area youngsters over the years, and his outstanding work with HIV/AIDS patients.
This program, as well as scholarships for students and other attendees, were made possible through the generous donations and support of Abbott Laboratories, Gilead Science, Tibotec Therapeutics, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and the Miriam Piwoz Goodman Fund.

For more information on the medical center’s AIDS Outreach Program, please call 201-996-2693 in complete confidence.


About Hackensack University Medical Center
HealthGrades® named HUMC as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for 2007 and 2008. This designation recognizes hospitals that have demonstrated superior clinical quality over a seven-year time period, based upon an analysis of more than 75 million Medicare patient records from 1999-2006. These hospitals have achieved better survival rates and lower complication rates across dozens of medical procedures and diagnoses, from cardiac care to orthopedic surgery, consistently ranking among the top five percent in the nation for overall clinical outcomes. HUMC is the only healthcare facility in New Jersey, New York, and New England to be named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals, for two years in a row. For more information, please visit the medical center’s website at www.humc.com.

Photo Caption 1
Maryann Collins, RN, patient care coordinator and outreach director at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), congratulates Jerome Levine, M.D., of Fair Lawn, physician compliance officer at HUMC, on his award in honor of his outstanding work with HIV/AIDS patients, and knowledge, dedication, and compassion for his patients.

Photo Caption 2
Julia Piwoz, M.D., of Ridgewood, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), addresses the crowd of more than 200 high school students from Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic counties at the 2008 World AIDS Day Program. The event was hosted by the AIDS Outreach Program at HUMC and held at the Hilton Hotel in Hasbrouck Heights on December 1.