Ramazan Bahar, MSW, MSN, ANP-BC, AAHIVS, loves working in community health centers. “Community health centers find a way to make things happen for people,” he says.
Ramazan, or “Ram” as he likes to be called, is the Assistant Director of HIV Services at Ryan Chelsea-Clinton. He’s been in this position since August 2025, helping to grow HIV services at the busy center. He’s accustomed to the swirl of activity in a bustling medical environment, having spent many years working in Emergency Medicine and Trauma.
Board-certified in HIV care, Ram has seen a change in his HIV patients over the years.
“I tell my patients that if you follow your treatment plan, I can promise you HIV is not what kills you,” he says. “It will be old age.”
With a background in geriatrics —he established a geriatric ER department at St. Joseph’s Health Care Center in Paterson, NJ — provides an added layer of knowledge for older HIV patients who also need to manage other conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.
Among the biggest changes he’s seen in HIV care, however, is the loss of stigma associated with HIV among younger people. That stigma was crippling for many people living with HIV for the first decades of the disease and hindered many from coming forward for treatment.
“There is so much information available that people can access themselves. They are educated on HIV and various treatment options,” Ram says. “It’s still difficult to tell someone that they’re positive. Even if they know it’s not a death sentence, there’s still an ‘oh, no’ component."
“We allow people the space to have a dialogue, to let them know they are working with experts in the field, who have passion and experience,” he continues. “We let them know they are not alone and give them a sense of peace. We talk about what they’re going to do next in their lives, and how to talk about it with others.”
In addition to supporting those already living with HIV, Ram emphasizes the importance of prevention. Prevention using PrEP and PEP also plays a big part, although many people who could benefit from it still do not use it.
“In New York City, PrEP is a way of life. Anyone sexually active knows about it,” he says. “There has been a significant decline in HIV cases in New York since PrEP. When it first became available, there was a stigma attached to it, which was sad because people assumed anyone using it was promiscuous. But now, it means you’re taking care of yourself and the community.”
Ram knows New York City, having lived his whole life in a 10-mile radius. He grew up in New Jersey, “eight miles west of the Holland Tunnel.” Today, he lives on the Upper West Side with his husband. They try to make time to travel when they can and spent New Year’s in Mexico.
“I like to hang out in Hell’s Kitchen,” he says. “I’m visible, I’m part of the community I serve.”
But there’s not really much free time. When he’s not at Ryan Chelsea-Clinton, Ram is also a professor at New York University’s Rory Myers College of Nursing and still works in the ER at Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, New Jersey a few times each month.
Still, Ram comes back to his commitment to community health centers.
“The most important thing to understand is that you’re not a number, you’re a person. When we talk to the team about you, we’re considering all of you — your work, your life, timing. It’s not just about getting a refill. It’s about being seen. That’s why I like Ryan Health.”
