Froedtert, Medical College to open clinic for LGBTQ community.
Experienced physicians to offer safe environment
A new health clinic that will focus on providing primary and preventive care to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning/queer — commonly referred to as LGBTQ — will open July 16 on the Froedtert Health and Medical College of Wisconsin campus in Wauwatosa.
The Inclusion Health Clinic, which initially will be open three days a week, will the first in the state to focus on the LGBTQ community.
It will be staffed by physicians with the Medical College of Wisconsin and by nurse practitioners and registered nurses who have experience with providing care to LGBTQ patients.
“The Inclusion Health Clinic demonstrates our deep belief that everyone deserves care that is culturally responsive, respectful and equitable,” Cathy Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of Froedtert Health, said in a statement.
Estimates on the number of people who identify as LGBTQ vary, according to a brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which does health policy research.
The most recent data from the National Health Interview Survey found that 2.8 percent of adults, or 5.5 million people, identify as LGBTQ. A Gallup poll found that an estimated 4.1 percent of adults, or 10 million people, did.
But the Gallup poll also found that 7.3 percent of millennials — those born from 1980 through 1998 — identify as LGBTQ. And the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey found that 8 percent of high school students identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.
The difference may stem from younger people’s being more open about identifying as LGBTQ.
“There is definitely less stigma among young people than among people in older age groups,” said Andrew Petroll, a physician and associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who will help staff the new clinic.
In addition to primary and preventive care, the clinic’s services will include obstetrics and gynecology; HIV prevention and specialty care; care for people who are transgender, including hormone therapy; and psychiatric care.
Many physicians and other clinicians provide care to people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, Petroll said. But people often don’t know if a health care provider is going to be someone with whom they will be comfortable.
That is particularly true for people who are transgender.
The Inclusion Health Clinic, he said, is a way to make clear that they will find a welcoming environment.
Other physicians and clinicians also may be less aware of the specific health needs of people in the LGBTQ community.
An example is a drug with minimal side effects that can help prevent HIV and that is more effective than condoms, said Petroll, who also is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine with the MCW Center for AIDS Intervention Research.
The drug has been available since 2012, but only a small percentage of primary-care
The most recent data from the National Health Interview Survey found that 2.8 percent of adults, or 5.5 million people, identify as LGBTQ. A Gallup poll found that an estimated 4.1 percent of adults, or 10 million people, did. But the Gallup poll also found that 7.3 percent of millennials — those born from 1980 through 1998 — identify as LGBTQ.
physicians are familiar with it.
Research suggests that some people in the LGBT community are more likely to have certain chronic conditions and face higher prevalence and earlier onset of disabilities compared to heterosexuals, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Other health concerns include HIV/ AIDS, mental illness, substance use, and sexual and physical violence.
The disparities may stem partly from people avoiding care, Petroll said.
More information about the clinic will be available this weekend at the Froedtert & MCW booth at PrideFest on the Summerfest grounds and at www.froedtert.com/LGBTQ.