LGBTQ+ Health Awareness Week 2024: advancing health equity for LGBTQ+ communities

This LGBTQ+ Health Awareness Week, Evergreen is celebrating the advances that LGBTQ+ communities have made towards health equity, while raising awareness of the health disparities they continue to face.

Evergreen Health was founded by a handful of volunteers in 1983 under the name AIDS Community Services to address the HIV and AIDS crisis in Western New York. As breakthroughs in medical therapy were made in the fight against HIV, we expanded our range of services beyond HIV care to meet the changing needs of the LGBTQ+ community and other communities that have been historically underserved by the healthcare system.

Today, Evergreen is trusted by the LGBTQ+ community to provide affirming primary and specialty care, trans and gender affirming care, mental health care, substance use services, supportive services and more. Read on to see some of the ways we at Evergreen specialize in caring for the unique health and wellness needs of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.

Affirming Primary and Specialty Care

Primary and Specialty Care providers at Evergreen know that seeking medical care and supportive services can be difficult for some people in the LGBTQ+ community. People who identify as LGBTQ+ have historically faced discrimination, stigma, lack of understanding of their needs and other issues while trying to access health care, so it’s important to us that people from the LGBTQ+ community feel seen, heard and affirmed throughout their entire patient experience at Evergreen.

The first step we take to ensure our patients feel respected when they come through our doors is that our staff is trained and empowered to use pronouns and gendered language respectfully. We ask the affirmed name and pronouns of each patient during intake, and ensure that each provider the patient interacts with thereafter sees their affirmed name and pronouns on their chart.

Our Primary Care providers understand the unique health and wellness needs of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community; and in addition to providing affirming care during annual and sick visits, we provide informed consent-based hormone replacement therapy tailored to the individual’s transition goals, referrals to gender affirming surgeons, gender-affirming pelvic care, and linkage to legal name and gender marker change help.

LGBTQ+ sensitive Behavioral Health Care

According to the New York State Department of Health’s LGBTQ+ Health Awareness Week Report, mental health care is the most prominent area of need in New York’s LGBTQ+ communities, and the greatest opportunity to impact the community’s overall health and quality of life.

People in the LGBTQ+ community come to Evergreen’s mental health and substance use providers with a wide variety of mental health and substance use concerns, including mood disorders, anxiety, trauma and co-occurring disorders. All of our providers are trained in providing sensitive care that meets the unique needs of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community, and are aware of how intersecting issues like racial trauma, sexual or domestic violence, sex work and chronic health conditions affect the mental health of these individuals.

Behavioral health care looks different for everyone, and our care options include one-on-one or group counseling, pharmacy, psychiatry, substance use services, supportive services, and connection to community and support.

Sexual health care

Evergreen has been supporting the sexual health and wellness of people in the LGBTQ+ community since 1983. Our patients count on us to provide judgment-free and understanding sexual health care, including prevention, treatment and education.

STI testing is easy, fast and accessible at Evergreen, and everything we test for, we can treat. We also specialize in Hepatitis C care, and most of the individuals we treat for Hepatitis C successfully reach cured status with little to no side effects.

Evergreen is Western New York’s leading provider of PrEP, the medication that when taken as prescribed greatly reduces a person’s chances of acquiring HIV, a chronic illness that disproportionately affects people in the LGBTQ+ community. We also specialize in HIV care and supportive services for people who are living with HIV.

Services for people living with HIV

For people living with HIV, adhering to a treatment plan is essential to staying healthy and well. We specialize in HIV care, including medical care and supportive services that make sure our patients living with HIV have the help they need to focus on their health.

We can help qualified patients who are living with HIV with housing, transportation, nutrition, community support, and medication and treatment adherence support.

Community and support at the Pride Center of Western New York

The Pride Center, an affiliate of Evergreen Health, is a safe place for people in Western New York’s LGBTQ+ community to access community, local resources, and linkage to medical and supportive services.

The Pride Center offers groups for people in the LBGTQ+ community to share fun activities and support with their peers, including groups for young men who love men, for women of queer experience, for LGBTQ+ folks age 50 and better, for transgender youth and their caregivers, and more.

The Pride Center also supports the community through drop-in hours for LGBTQ+ youth to access peer and staff support, local resources, and linkage to medical and supportive services.

Follow the Pride Center on social media or view their calendar of events to learn more about joining a group or visiting during drop-in hours.

To become a new patient, submit our new patient request form. To learn more about the services in this article, visit evergreenhs.org or call 716.847.2441.