By Dixie Ann Black
In this installment of the Westside Gazette’s focus on HIV/AIDS powerhouses in our community we are pleased to shine the spotlight on Dr. Deborah Holmes, the Medical Director of the AHF Healthcare Center – Miami (Jackson North). The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS care in the world.
In the throes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 1980’s, Dr. Holmes first worked as a physician’s assistant on Riker’s Island, home to one of the world’s largest correctional and mental institutions. This experience fueled a passion for serving through healthcare and education that became a lifelong calling. However, the root of Dr. Holmes’ dedication can be traced back to her parents, Carl Holmes, Esq. (deceased) and her mother, Mrs. Dolores Holmes (age 90). In fact, several other members of Dr. Holmes’ family, including her uncle, Dr. Herbert Holmes and granduncle, Dr. Noel Holmes, have paved the way as mentors in a family legacy of emphasis on education and medicine.
Dr. Holmes, laughingly explains that she went to medical school “late in life” meaning, in her mid-twenties. This provided her room for first training as a physician’s assistant, being mentored under Dr. Jean Smith (the sickle cell expert who helped put federal guidelines in place for testing infants). It also allowed her firsthand experience with HIV/AIDS patients at Rikers Island.
She initially intended on becoming a veterinarian but was discouraged by “a misguided counsellor”. She received her M.D. from what is now Rutgers Medical School. The shocking malignancies she observed at Riker’s Island and the increasing number of people affected by the disease, led this trained Internist to add an HIV Specialty Certification to her degrees and jump into the HIV/AIDS fight with both feet.
That was 26 years ago. Today Holmes juggles her private life with serving on the Vice Provost’s Council for the Biscayne Bay campus of FIU, helping to raise scholarship money for first generation students while being a full-time clinician and Medical Director at Aides Health Foundation. When not at work she spends time with her three dogs and enjoys a wide range of music and culture. She is also a wife and stepmom of two adult sons. She has been living in South Florida since the early 1990’s and has been in her role at AHF for the past fourteen years. Despite being the Medical Director, Dr. Holmes is still very hands on.
“I am a clinician who sees patients all day.” The good doctor explains that she is the only physician onsite. An amazing observation from colleagues and patients is that Dr. Holmes still personally reaches out to patients in the evenings and on weekends.
“I have had the privilege of seeing patients age [instead of dying from HIV/AIDS]. But this means assisting them with dealing with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, STD’s and other conditions.” She pointed out that the battle against HIV/AIDS is far from over and offers simple advice. “Get tested!”
“In 2019 there were 37,000 reported new cases of HIV in the U.S. alone. 42 percent of that number are people of color. 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. 13 percent of that number did not know their status. So do not live in a cage and not get tested.”
Dr. Holmes underscored the continued need for vaccination, testing, safe sex practices and treatment. She emphasized the COVID vaccine and the Gardasil vaccine as necessary in heading off significant long-term effects such as long-haul COVID effects, HPV and cancer.
“One in five new HIV cases was diagnosed in individuals aged 13 to 25 in 2018. Also in 2018, 87 percent of newly diagnosed HIV cases were diagnosed through MSM (male to male) contact.”
These statistics led Dr. Holmes to point out other major stumbling blocks to treatment, stigma and discrimination.
“There are very high rates of HIV infection in the south. About a half of these numbers are people of color, including those from Central America. This very diverse population includes a high number of females, MSM and transgender individuals. According to the CDC, almost half, 42 percent of those are females.
“There are many young people living in their cars or homeless because they have been ostracized by their family. Some are forced into doing sex work. We need to all treat each other with love and respect. We should not discriminate against people based on who they sleep with. I don’t think any of us are here to judge each other.”
What does the future look like for people of color in the fight against HIV/AIDS? In answering this question, Dr. Holmes returned to her family legacy and her own training: education, and medicine. The doctor pointed to various single pill treatments and even an injectable drug which takes some of the stress out of treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. At AHF, Holmes stressed the immediacy and intensity of services offered.
“Once a patient has tested positive, someone will come hold your hand and get you into care within 72 hours.”
In adding the educational component, she explained, “According to the CDC, 62 percent of the people living with AIDS are people of color. We need to emphasize and support the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) program, encouraging our children to become physicians.
“The percentage of Black males becoming physicians is at the same level as it was in 1940 and there has been only a five percent increase in the number of Black females who have become physicians.”
“We live in challenging times. There has been some social regression in the U.S. We need to educate ourselves, get involved, vote, pick up the phone and call our congressmen.”
In short, Dr. Holmes encourages us to embrace the power of medicine and education to eradicate HIV/AIDS by also jumping into the fight for our health and wellbeing with both feet.
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