The Grady Health Foundation is pleased to announce a $2 million donation from Gilead Sciences that will help fund a comprehensive renovation of Grady Health System’s Ponce de Leon Center, which houses one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive programs for the treatment of advanced HIV and AIDS.

The donation underscores an ongoing partnership between Grady and Gilead to address the needs of people living with HIV.

“Grady has been on the front lines of HIV and AIDS treatment and research since the early 1990s and continues to lead the fight against this disease, which has reached epidemic proportions in Atlanta and throughout the south. We are grateful to Gilead Sciences for this generous donation, which will be used to modernize our Ponce de Leon Center so that we can more effectively implement new approaches to care and accommodate the high volume of patients who come through our doors for testing, treatment and support,” said John Haupert, President and CEO of Grady Health System.

One in four patients with HIV in Georgia receives treatment at Grady, including adult men and women as well as young children. The Ponce de Leon Center provides multidisciplinary support for patients including testing, diagnosis, primary care, acute care, dental care, and mental and behavioral health services.

Gilead’s leadership gift supports a planned $23 million renovation that will allow for more efficient delivery of services and increase the clinic’s capacity so that Grady can meet increasing demand with innovative, patient-centered programs.

“Gilead and Grady share the goal of providing life-saving care for patients living with HIV and AIDS. Given its location at the epicenter of the current HIV epidemic in the southeast, we are confident that this investment in the future of the Ponce de Leon Center will allow Grady to have an even greater impact on the care received by thousands of people in the region,” added Gregg Alton, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Medical Affairs, Gilead Sciences.

The Ponce de Leon Center was first opened in 1993 and today serves 6,000 patients annually from a 20-county area including Fulton and DeKalb, which have the highest prevalence of HIV in Georgia and are among the highest in the United States. Research at the Ponce de Leon Center is conducted in partnership with The Center for AIDS Research at Emory.