When Leigh Roberts graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1992, treatment for HIV was limited, at best.
'I very much remember in medical school when HIV and AIDS basically were new, and everyone was very afraid [ of HIV patients ] , she said. 'I remember doctors refusing to do surgery [ on HIV patients ] . I remember universal precautions being implemented, things that didn't exist. I remember people dying because we didn't have anything to offer.'
Fast-forward to the present, and things have changed dramatically on the HIV front. And yet Roberts is still treating HIV-infected patients, though now with a lot more success. She is a certified HIV specialist in the American Academy of HIV Medicine, and has been practicing HIV medicine for almost 10 years.
Sure, her new practice—Hejira Healthcare, located at 3000 N. Halsted, on the seventh-floor of the Advocate Illinois Masonic Professional Building—includes all adult primary care, but HIV is her specialty.
'I have to keep up with a body of knowledge specific to HIV, which is a very rapidly changing medicine,' she said. 'It's challenging, and that makes it interesting. There are multiple factors to balance. Is a symptom caused by the disease? Or the medication? Or an infection? There's just a lot going on with the disease.
'I have to have special training and special certification to be up to date.'
Roberts, 48, is an East Coast native who now lives in North Kenwood.
'When I graduated from medical school in 1992, I was treating people who were dying of AIDS. Actually, we weren't treating them; we weren't doing anything,' she said. 'Today, there are many, many [ treatment ] options. We now have medications [ for HIV ] and people live full lives, and the universal precautions are the norm.
'That's not to say that the stigma and discrimination are gone, because [ they're ] not, but we certainly have come a long way,' in the treatment of HIV.
The treatment of HIV is advanced light years in her professional medical career, she said. 'No body of biomedical research has moved as swiftly, with such success, as HIV medicine. That's part of the excitement of it. Just think of AIDS and HIV treatment in comparison to the treatment for, say, cancer.
'We've gone from basically not knowing what's causing this disease to where and who it was coming from, what is it, how to test for it, to treating it, to the first triple-regimen drug in one pill which just came out. The progress that has been made is simply unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
About one-third of Roberts' patient time is spent dealing with HIV. Her remaining work in adult primary care, ranging from treating colds and cancer to pap smears.
Hejira Healthcare opened at the end of January, complete with beautiful artwork on the walls; soothing sounds, relaxing aromas and a host of coffee table books instead of standard waiting room magazines. ( Hejira is a word derived from the Middle East that means to journey and to break with the past, Roberts said. )
Roberts, for the past five years, has been the medical director at Howard Brown Health Center, where she worked for nine years.
'I've run businesses for others for a long time, and just thought I ought to do something else. I had ideas of how going to the doctor should be and just thought this would be a good jumping off point,' she said. 'Going to the doctor is inherently anxiety-filled. People don't like it; they don't like going to the doctor. Everyone just grits their teeth, grins and bears going to the doctor.
'But I just feel it doesn't have to be that way; I felt it could be a little more pleasant.'
To that, Hejira's waiting room has living room furniture instead of standard medical waiting-room furniture.
'I just want it to be different; I want to created a timeout space, because that can be healing unto itself,' Roberts said. 'We want to capture the senses: sound, scent and visual.
'My life has been all about the health of the LGBT community, and I expect to remain an active member. I'm going to stay very visible in the community that I've been in.'
About 80 percent of Roberts' patients are gay or lesbian.
Roberts and her partner, Sandy Markiewicz, have been together for about 10 years.
'I know there are people who just don't go to the doctor, but hopefully I can change that,' Roberts said. 'I really want to help correct some of the erroneous thinking people have about doctors, and just give them a small reason to go, to start the relationship [ with a doctor ] .
'People really should have an ongoing relationship with a medical person as they evolve through life. It's more important than any of us realize.'
Contact Hejira Healthcare at 773-883-0723; also see www.hejirahealth.com .