As the primary provider of HIV prevention, education, and testing services and the only Ryan White-funded agency providing medical care and supportive services for people living with HIV in the three-county area stretching from the lower Rio Grande Valley on to the U.S.-Mexico border, Valley AIDS Council (VAC) is transforming lives for underserved populations that might otherwise face significant barriers to accessing comprehensive and compassionate care.
Fortunately, the covered entity’s 2,960 — and counting — patients are benefiting from its strategic and sustainable growth, one that has empowered it to expand its mission in both size and scope. While VAC has provided wraparound services, including HIV/STI diagnosis, treatment, and case management, and HIV prevention and testing for more than 35 years, it now also offers patients a holistic menu of status-neutral services across the HIV continuum at its three South Texas locations.
Community partnerships play a crucial role in VAC’s growth, says Executive Director Wally Cantu. When selecting a healthcare services organization that could provide award-winning onsite pharmacy solutions, 340B program expertise, and a care model aligned with VAC’s core values, the covered entity chose Avita Pharmacy, an Avita Care Solutions company.
“VAC selected Avita following a comprehensive, multi‑step 340B contract pharmacy vetting process that evaluated compliance, operational performance, and mission alignment,” Wally says. In addition to regulatory compliance, VAC assessed Avita’s ability to enhance program outcomes — specifically, its capacity to help VAC expand revenue opportunities, strengthen medication adherence, and improve access for patients. The potential to co‑locate a 340B pharmacy onsite would further streamline VAC’s workflows and improve operational efficiency.
“Avita ultimately met or exceeded all of our criteria,” Wally explains. “Their long-standing track record of supporting community events, patient services, and mission-driven healthcare has reinforced the strength of our partnership and aligned closely with VAC’s values.”
Read on to learn more about the partnership between VAC and Avita, including insights into specific initiatives that have enabled the two organizations to harness the power of collaboration to expand compassionate community healthcare.
Wally Cantu
Executive Director
Valley AIDS COUNCIL
Avita ultimately met or exceeded all of our criteria. Their long-standing track record of supporting community events, patient services, and mission-driven healthcare has reinforced the strength of our partnership and aligned closely with VAC’s values.
A partnership built on enhancing the patient journey
Providing an expanding range of wellness services to marginalized patients, especially amid a dramatically changing community healthcare and 340B policy environment, is no small feat. From delivering high-quality patient experiences to ensuring the highest standards of compliance, covered entities can encounter numerous operational challenges, says VAC 340B Administrator Rachel Rodriguez.
“Covered entities often struggle with fragmented workflows and limited visibility into pharmacy operations and patient data,” she says. “This lack of integration leads to poor communication among clinic case managers, providers, and pharmacy teams, as well as delays in understanding whether prescriptions were qualified, dispensed, or filled. There is also limited insight into refill status, adherence barriers, and cross-team coordination. Together, these gaps slow patient care and significantly increase administrative burden.”
Furthermore, “Many contract pharmacies lack consistent patient contact or counseling support,” Rachel explains. “As a result, patients may miss refill reminders or fail to fully understand their medication regimens. Administrative friction within the 340B workflow further delays care. These challenges contribute to lower retention in long-term care programs such as HIV prevention and treatment, reduced adherence, poorer clinical outcomes, and increased workload for staff, who must spend time tracking missing refills and follow-ups.”
However, Avita strategically customizes its partnership journey to align with the specific missions of its covered entities, smoothing out potential bumps and clearing the runway for takeoff. “Avita’s model extends beyond dispensing to provide comprehensive patient engagement services,” Rachel says. “These include personalized refill reminders, medication counseling, proactive case-management follow-up, and close integration between the pharmacy and clinical teams (Avita has onsite pharmacies at VAC’s McAllen and Harlingen clinic locations). This approach ensures patient questions and barriers are addressed quickly, helping patients remain on therapy.”
The impact on retention and adherence is significant, she adds. “Patients are more likely to stay engaged in care when they feel supported and understand their medications,” Rachel says. “VAC teams also gain access to actionable adherence data, enabling timely outreach when gaps emerge and improving continuity of care across the patient journey.”
Rachel Rodriguez
340B Administrator
Valley AIDS COUNCIL
Avita’s model extends beyond dispensing to provide comprehensive patient engagement services. This approach ensures patient questions and barriers are addressed quickly, helping patients remain on therapy.
Providing the strategic tools for a successful mission
When it comes to a recipe for the successful VAC and Avita partnership, the VAC team highlights several key ingredients:
A highly personalized onsite pharmacy program:
Communication is essential in a 340B pharmacy partnership built for the long haul, and Avita has creatively demonstrated its commitment to VAC’s mission through various initiatives. For example, when confusion arose among VAC case managers about how to properly process local pharmacy assistance program (LPAP) vouchers that help uninsured or underinsured patients access HIV medications, Avita Pharmacist-in-Charge Briana Reyna jumped in with a customized training program.
“We noticed that confusion with the voucher system was creating extra steps for both the VAC and pharmacy teams, which in turn delayed patients from receiving their medications,” Briana says. “So, we hosted a lunch-and-learn session, both in person and virtually, where I presented a step-by-step tutorial on creating vouchers for different scenarios. The presentation included real patient and pricing examples; VAC employees could practice while I was available to answer questions in real time. We also created training binders that included a color-printed voucher manual, a copy of the presentation, and contact information for Avita pharmacy team members at our co-located pharmacies.”
As a result, “This initiative has improved utilization of the LPAP program, reduced financial barriers, and increased patient adherence,” VAC’s Rachel Rodriguez says. “More patients are now able to fill and refill their prescriptions affordably and consistently.”
Rachel Rodriguez
340B Administrator
Valley AIDS COUNCIL
The voucher training program has improved utilization, reduced financial barriers, and increased patient adherence. More patients are now able to fill and refill their prescriptions affordably and consistently.
VAC was also Avita’s first covered entity partner to have a dedicated “pharmacy liaison” position hired for its onsite pharmacy. “I serve as the primary point of contact between the clinic and Avita Pharmacy, ensuring both sides get timely information and support,” says Karen Hernandez, who kicked off the role in November 2025. “I share updates about Avita’s services to help patients access the pharmacy resources that best support their care,” she says. “My involvement in morning huddles helps me plan my day effectively and tailor conversations to meet the specific needs of each patient.” Karen also works closely with VAC’s nurses on prior authorizations for prescriptions, maintaining constant communication to keep the process moving smoothly. This collaboration helps reduce delays and ensures patients receive their medications promptly.
Because Karen has access to the VAC clinic’s electronic medical record (EMR) system, she can track when patients attend or miss appointments and verify their contact information, improving accuracy and streamlining follow‑up. “This consistent communication helps ensure that both teams stay aligned and proactive in supporting patient care,” she says. “Above all, I make sure patients feel supported and informed — even if they choose not to fill their prescriptions with us.”
The impact of Avita establishing the pharmacy liaison role was felt quickly and significantly by VAC team members and patients, Rachel says. “This role provides a single, reliable point of contact between the VAC team and Avita pharmacy operations, enabling faster resolution of questions related to claims, eligibility, refill issues, and patient support,” she says. “Staff report clearer expectations, quicker responses, and greater confidence that issues will be resolved efficiently and effectively.”
Karen Hernandez
Pharmacy Liaison
Avita Pharmacy
I serve as the primary point of contact between the clinic and Avita Pharmacy, ensuring both sides get timely information and support. This consistent communication helps ensure that both teams stay aligned and proactive in supporting patient care.
Technology that builds the patient experience and 340B savings:
VAC team members are also big fans of the Avita CareConnect portal, a proprietary application designed to act as a single point of digital engagement, streamlining 340B administration and patient services between Avita and its covered entity partners. The platform’s Patient Services module provides clinic case managers with a focused view of their patients’ profiles, making it easier to help patients navigate their prescriptions and refills and improving communication between case managers and the Avita Pharmacy team. The 340B Management module leverages a turnkey dashboard setting to enable covered entity 340B teams to access a range of analytics and projections based on the entity’s historical activity.
“Avita’s CareConnect portal is extraordinary,” says VAC Non-Medical Case Manager Jasmin Salmeron. “It has been essential in building our patients’ care plans and a tremendous help in keeping patients engaged in care. Avita CareConnect gives VAC case managers the right tools to use so we can ask the pharmacy the correct questions the first time, instead of going back and forth.”
VAC’s Rachel Rodriguez agrees. “This technology offers immediate visibility into patient pharmacy adherence and equips staff with tools to intervene early, helping prevent patients from being lost to follow-up,” she says.
Jasmin Salmeron
Non-medical case manager
Valley AIDS Council
Avita's CareConnect portal is extraordinary. It has been essential in building our patients’ care plans and a tremendous help in keeping patients engaged in care.
340B program expertise on tap:
Whether it’s new manufacturer restrictions affecting script and data qualification, amended state laws or regulations, or updated audit guidelines, the 340B landscape is constantly evolving. So, it’s no surprise that even covered entities with experienced policy veterans find it challenging to tackle their 340B programs alone. As part of their built-in partnership benefits, VAC has leveraged the knowledge, skills, and experience of Avita’s 340B finance team to increase cost savings, enhance patient reach, and ensure compliance peace of mind.
“Working with Avita’s 340B Finance team has been incredibly helpful,” says VAC’s Rachel Rodriguez. “They’re knowledgeable, strategic, and always available when we need them. Their support has played a key role in helping us grow our program the right way — efficiently and compliantly. Our Avita representative, Taylor Stockett, has been amazing and consistently goes above and beyond to ensure we have the guidance and support we need.”
In fact, the 340B experts at VAC and Avita are so in sync on the topic of 340B that Avita Senior Vice President of 340B Finance, Cheryl Hetland, and VAC 340B Administrator, Rachel Rodriguez, will be co-presenting a 340B Compliance workshop at the 2026 NaLa Conference. Hosted by Valley AIDS Council, the conference aims to provide healthcare and social service providers with innovative concepts, best practices, and new information on how to better serve the healthcare needs of Latino communities.
Rachel Rodriguez
340B Administrator
Valley AIDS COUNCIL
Working with Avita’s 340B Finance team has been incredibly helpful. They’re knowledgeable, strategic, and always available when we need them. Their support has played a key role in helping us grow our program the right way — efficiently and compliantly.
VAC and Avita’s partnership is a “natural fit.”
What’s next for Valley AIDS Council? The sky’s the limit as the team continues to deliver best-in-class, culturally appropriate sexual health and wellness services across South Texas and advocate for the Latino population at local, state, and national levels. The Avita team is honored to support them every step of the way, through a partnership built on compassion and a commitment to meeting the healthcare needs of otherwise underserved communities.
“Both organizations prioritize inclusive, affirming, and client-centered care, grounded in dignity, respect, and equity,” says VAC’s Wally Cantu. “In essence, VAC and Avita operate from parallel value systems centered on inclusivity and patient empowerment, making their partnership a natural fit.”
