NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/JACOBI OPENS NEW PRIDE HEALTH CENTER FOR LGBTQ PATIENTS

Center will provide LGBTQ-affirming care for a variety of services, including primary care, OB/GYN, family planning services,

behavioral health, hormone therapy, testing for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, PrEP, and more

 NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi today announced the opening of its new comprehensive Pride Health Center. The Center will serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients as they receive high-quality, culturally competent, respectful care in the hospital’s state-of-the-art facility. The new Pride Health Center will provide LGBTQ-affirming care for a variety of services, including primary care, adolescent care, OB/GYN, family planning services, behavioral health, dental services, ophthalmology, hormone therapy, testing for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and more. Social work support will also be available for patients to assist with continuity of care.

 

“Each Pride Health Center our public health system opens demonstrates our level of commitment to ensure every single New Yorker has access to culturally sensitive and respectful health care,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Diversity Officer Matilde Roman, Esq. “This group of patients have been excluded from competent care for far too long, and we recognize our responsibility to make sure to provide a welcoming environment that affirms their right to receive expert care they need most.”

 

“We treat everyone who seeks care at Jacobi with respect and we affirm who they are,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi CEO Christopher Mastromano. “It’s been well documented that our LGBTQ community faces barriers when trying to access healthcare and we are committed, at Jacobi and throughout our NYC Health + Hospitals System, to tear those barriers down.”

 

The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is located within Building 8 on the first floor (1D). The Center will have sessions on Thursday afternoons from 1:30-5:00PM and will have a cadre of full-time dedicated providers who are supported by a team of nurses, administrators, and patient care associates.  In addition to Center hours, LGBTQ-affirming care is available 24/7 at Jacobi via the Emergency and Ambulatory Care Departments.

 

This is the latest in a long history of services NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi has made over the years to provide care to the LGBTQ community.  Jacobi pioneered the first HIV/AIDS daycare in the nation back in the 1980s.  In 2018, the hospital was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as being a “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equity,” and in 2019 opened a “health and empowerment center” for sexual health services. This year also marked the fifth annual LGBTQ pride event at Jacobi.

“Since 2009, the Bronx continues to be ranked last out of New York State’s 62 counties in health outcomes by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Ranking Report. Today I congratulate NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in working to change these statistics by opening their new Pride Health Center for LGBTQ+ patients. This is a vital step in addressing the historic health disparities faced by our borough. I look forward to working with institutions like NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi to bring much needed resources to our shared communities,” said Council Member Oswald Feliz.

 

NYC Health + Hospitals has long been a leader in caring for LGBTQ patients and continues its commitment to providing staff with specialized trainings to ensure LGBTQ patients who seek care at any location across the health system receive responsive health care in a welcoming environment.

 

NYC Health + Hospitals’ Pride Health Centers are:

 

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue

462 1^st Avenue, New York, NY 10016

 

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur

227 Madison St., New York, NY 10002

 

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson

34 Spring St., New York, NY 10012

 

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan

1901 1^st Avenue, New York, NY 10029

 

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull

760 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11206

 

NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln also opened a new comprehensive Gender Affirming Integrated Services Practice, dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients in June 2021.

 

NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan was the first public hospital to open a health center dedicated to the health care of LGBTQ patients and has since expanded health services for transgender patients, including gender-affirming surgeries and increased access to hormone therapy. In addition to the Pride Health Centers, NYC Health + Hospitals will continue to provide services to LGBTQ youth through their Bridge Program at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson Health Center, which offers a one stop shop for adolescents’ medical, mental health services and other support services, with specialized expertise in servicing this audience.

 

For more information about any of the Pride Health Centers at NYC Health + Hospitals or to make an appointment, please contact 844-NYC-4NYC (1-844-692-4692).