by Denise Anthony
Beverly Byram, MSN, FNP, program director of the Part D Ryan White program at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic(CCC), has received the 2014 Salute to Nurses Community Outreach Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association and the Tennessean.
“I was very surprised and honored to have been nominated and selected for this award,” said Byram, who was recognized for her work with HIV/AIDS patients, especially HIV-positive pregnant women.
“I have worked with HIV/AIDS patients since 1990, and have experienced numerous changes in the management of the disease,” she said. “While things have gotten much better, the stigma of the disease continues to be a major barrier to care.”
Byram “is recognized as a leader, mentor and role model in her field,” Stephen Raffanti, M.D., MPH, the clinic’s founder and chief medical officer, told the Tennessean. “She organized a community-wide effort to provide targeted treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women with the goal of minimizing the transmission of HIV to the newborn child.”
Team members include obstetricians, specialists in maternal/fetal medicine, HIV medical care, social work and pharmacy case management, mental health counseling, nutrition, and pediatric HIV case management.
“I think we have one of the most collaborative teams in the country,” Byram said. “Out of more than 310 infants born to our patients, we have only had one HIV-positive baby. Each HIV-negative baby is affirmation for our efforts.”
One of the nation’s largest outpatient HIV/AIDS treatment facilities, the CCC — formerly known as the Comprehensive Care Center — moved to Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks in 2010.
