HIV Clinic Opens One Location, Readies Another

It’s been a busy year for the Rod Bragg Music City PrEP clinic. 

In late April, the organization opened a new clinic at 501 28th Ave. N. It offers PrEP HIV prevention services for both men and women, anti-retroviral treatment for those living with HIV, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, with a goal of eventually adding primary care services.  

Music City PrEP Clinic purchased the Midtown property for $3.2 million in a deal finalized late last month. The organization’s prior clinic was operated out of a leased location on Main Street in East Nashville, though the organization also offers telemedicine and mobile clinic options. 

In late July or early August, Music City PrEP Clinic is set to open a multi-use facility in the former Bill Martin’s grocery store space in East Nashville, which it bought in 2020 for $4.5 million. Steven Ogooue, director of community relations for Music City PrEP, tells the Scene's sister publication the Nashville Post that the Fatherland Street site will be anchored by a primary care medical facility called Chosen Family Medicine. 

Music City PrEP will offer PrEP and PEP services at the location, with pharmaceutical services from Avita Pharmacy. The Rod Bragg Rainbow Room (named for Music City PrEP’s late founder) will serve as a conference room meant as a safe event space for the LGBTQ community. Canvas Lounge, a Church Street LGBTQ bar, is also set to occupy a portion of the complex, Ogooue said. 

Ogooue says the organization did not receive grants to fund the expansions. 

“Music City PrEP Clinic is fortunate to have a visionary leader that saw a need in this community and, with the help of a dedicated team, has been able to create a successful business model that didn’t rely on grant dollars,” he says. “The clinic rapidly grew from its inception in 2017 with a few patients to crossing the threshold of 10,000 patients in late 2021.”

Earlier this month, Mayor John Cooper and the Metro Public Health Department joined an international movement to combat HIV/AIDS, making Nashville a “Fast-Track City.”

This article first ran via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.