Northwell Opens Long Island’s First LGBTQ Transgender Center
NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. Northwell Health has opened Long Island’s first center dedicated to transgender care, providing an array of services under one roof to serve the LGBTQIA+ community. The $850,000, 3,000-square-foot office opened in June in observance of Pride Month, giving the program first established in 2016 a physical home.
The Northwell Health Physician Partners LGBTQ Transgender Health Program, located at 410 Lakeville Road, features four exam rooms, eight offices/consultation rooms and two gender neutral restrooms. The center is staffed by a medical director, a primary care physician, psychiatrist, senior psychologist, nurse practitioner, and two trans-health navigators. The program offers services for endocrinology (adult and pediatric), plastic surgery, adolescent medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and otolaryngology.
“We understand that there are thousands of individuals living on Long Island who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming and non-binary. This is an underserved community that has specific health care needs,” said David Rosenthal, DO, PhD, medical director of the Center for Transgender Care at Northwell Health. “The goals of this center is to bring together multiple clinical services at Northwell to serve the needs of the transgender community, educate health care professionals about transgender health, perform cutting-edge research, and work with the health system to address infrastructure to meet the needs of the transgender community.”
The Northwell Health LGBTQ Transgender Program at New Hyde Park and Gerald J. Friedman Transgender Health & Wellness Program of Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan provide comprehensive medical services for the specialized needs of the transgender and gender nonconforming community. Phelps Hospital in Westchester also offers extensive transgender services.
The new Long Island center reflects Northwell’s commitment to equity in the workplace and health equity for all patients and employees, whatever their race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or other characteristics. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has ranked Northwell Health as the No. 3 health system in the nation and first in New York State based on the number of facilities designated a Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality, according to its 2019 Healthcare Equality Index.
“Northwell Health’s mission to break down barriers and achieve health equity is evidenced in numerous programs and initiatives, including the health system’s ongoing investment into transgender health,” said Thomas McGinn, MD, senior vice president and deputy physician-in-chief at Northwell Health. “Discrimination in all its forms must be eradicated, and we believe that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are entitled to receive access to the same care as all our patients.”
In addition to the center, Northwell’s commitment to continuing medical education includes the launch of a cultural competency module that educates physicians to the special needs an LGBTQIA+ patient may have, Dr. Rosenthal said.
