After decades at clinic, HIV specialist will retire

After 42 years at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, 22 treating patients with HIV, Dr. Korey Jorgensen is retiring from the nonprofit — but not completely cutting ties.

The family physician and HIV specialist turns 70 in February and said he plans to spend more time with his 7-year-old grandson.

Jorgensen began as a volunteer at the clinic in 1972 while working in private practice as a family doctor. Eighteen years later he began earning a paycheck at the clinic and soon after started treating patients with HIV.

It was 1992 and the AIDS virus was hitting Laguna’s gay community particularly hard.

Jorgensen said he has treated 1,200 to 1,400 patients with HIV and seen plenty of changes over the years, with treatment options being the most significant. Most patients only need to take one pill a day compared with the regimen of multiple medications in previous years, he said.

“The pills are safe to take with fewer side effects,” Jorgensen said.

Testing is another area in which HIV has progressed in his time. He said when he started, there were no tests for antibodies against the virus as there are today.

“We tested for a protein, which wasn’t as reliable,” he said.

Now a blood test can reveal whether a person’s body is producing antibodies to fight HIV, and doctors receive test results much faster.

Another important change, according to Jorgensen, is the public’s perception of the virus.

“People are more accepting now of HIV and AIDS,” Jorgensen said. “The level of knowledge has improved so there is not as much fear. That said, there is still a lot of discrimination and shame surrounding those who have HIV.”

Getting patients tested can be challenging, Jorgensen said.

“They don’t want to know because they might be ostracized by their family or church,” he said.

Thomas Bent, the clinic’s chief operating officer and medical director, first met Jorgensen in 1982 and said the doctor’s impact has been invaluable.

“You can’t replace Korey,” Bent said. “His dedication to family medicine and ability to communicate with patients is unmatched.”

Jorgensen was recognized in 2004 by the California Academy of Family Physicians as its Family Physician of the Year.

His last day is Dec. 11. He said he felt he could leave the clinic now, partly because it has seen a decreased demand for primary care services in the wake of the Affordable Care Act rollout.

“We thought there would be a huge demand for primary care doctors like me, but that has not occurred,” Jorgensen said. “It felt less important for me to continue.”

“Many clinics in Orange County have experienced a bit of a slow down due to the Affordable Care Act transition,” Bent wrote in a follow-up email. “Patients transitioning from the county’s Medical Services Initiative program to CalOptima have had great difficulty in keeping their doctor of choice.”

Jorgensen has been working two days a week at the clinic and said he’ll continue to be involved as a contributor to its quarterly newsletter and as a financial donor. He will also be the clinic’s representative on the city’s HIV Advisory Committee.

Dr. Chau Ngo will be the clinic’s new HIV specialist, while associate medical director Jorge Rubal will concentrate on family medicine, Bent said.

“For me it’s difficult because I’m so used to having [Jorgensen] down the hall,” Bent said. “He is my personal physician and is like a brother.”