CAP Newsroom

Jake Thomas | The Lund Report

“Jonathan Frochtzwajg, public policy and grants manager for Cascade AIDS Project, told The Lund Report that PEP is often prescribed to survivors of a sexual assault or health care workers exposed to HIV on the job. The health authority contracts with the Cascade AIDS Project to help people in the Portland metro area access the drug. Frochtzwajg said that contract highlighted for his organization roadblocks to getting the medication. 

‘We have a front-row seat to all the barriers,’ said Frochtzwajg. ‘And those run the gamut from providers not familiar with PEP, to patients not being able to fill prescriptions because many pharmacies don’t stock the medication, to people not being able to afford the copay when they get to the pharmacy counter.’”

Megan Messerly | Politico

“‘Because the federal government has failed in so many ways to provide access to health care for Americans, Oregon is stepping in,’ said Jonathan Frochtzwajg, public policy and grants manager at the Cascade AIDS Project and one of the members of Oregon’s task force. ‘Congress, and in particular the Senate, is broken, and states are having to compensate for that.’”

Multnomah County

“Jim Clay, a 75-year-old gay man and public health worker, lost his partner to AIDS 11 year ago. Clay spent six years in retirement until returning to the workforce at 70. Now, he manages Cascade AIDS Project’s Aging Well program, which he designed to support the mental and physical health of older adults living with HIV and AIDS. ‘Many of the older adults that I work with are also widows. They live alone, they feel lonely, they’re isolated, and this has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic,’ Clay says.”

The Body Pro | Larry Buhl

“The biggest issue with the California law is that it doesn’t allow pharmacists to be reimbursed, so there’s no financial incentive to participate,” said Jonathan Frochtzwajg, public policy and grants manager of the Portland-based nonprofit Cascade AIDS Project, a sponsor of the Oregon bill. He added that, with the Oregon bill, pharmacists would act like doctors, offering screening and counseling for HIV, and would be reimbursed for their time like doctors are.

POZ | Trenton Straube

“Members of the Oregon House voted 47–7 to pass a bill allowing pharmacists to prescribe pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) drugs to prevent HIV, reports Cascade AIDS Project (CAP), a nonprofit HIV organization leading the effort to pass the bill.”

The Lund Report | Ben Botkin

“In testimony, the Cascade AIDS Project, which is in Portland and southwest Washington state, gave real-life examples of people who have struggled to access the medication. They include: a woman who suffered a sexual assault was unable to get a prescription through an urgent care clinic and finally got one after multiple attempts through her primary care provider. Many patients in rural areas feel their provider is not knowledgeable about the topic, the group said.”

The Body | Larry Buhl

“Jonathan Frochtzwajg, public policy and grants manager of the Cascade AIDS Project, told TheBody that although Oregon pharmacists can prescribe PrEP, they aren’t doing so. ‘The vast majority of pharmacists lack the training to assess patients, and billing systems aren’t configured to allow pharmacists to get reimbursed for their services in the same way as other health care providers,’ he said. ‘Our full-time PrEP navigator has never heard of it happening.’ Frochtzwajg added that Cascade AIDS Project is developing a bill that would address the barriers to pharmacists prescribing PrEP.”

The Oregonian | Tom Hallman Jr

“COVID-19 upended the lives of the clients Cascade AIDS Project serves, said Meghan Von Tersch, a housing navigation team leader. ‘Getting food has become an obstacle because they’re medically fragile,’ she said. ‘For the past six months, we have been getting it for them. We couldn’t do this without volunteers like Luke.’”