NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, announced this week the opening of North Brooklyn’s, first comprehensive health center dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients.
The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull will provide LGBTQ-affirming care to the community in Brooklyn by a team of providers specially trained in the care of LGBTQ patients. Services will include primary care, OB/GYN, behavioral health, dental services, ophthalmology, hormone therapy, testing for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In addition, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) preventive services are available during clinic hours and through the hospital’s emergency department.
“At a time when health care services are under attack, The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull in Brooklyn will be a safe haven for countless LGBTQ New Yorkers,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray, who spearheads the NYC Unity Project. “NYC Health + Hospitals is leading the way to secure freedom and equality for the City’s LGBTQ community with affordable, culturally competent mental and physical health care.”
Brooklyn continues to be home to one of the largest LGBTQ communities in the country. Historically, members of these communities have been underserved in health care, lacking access to the affirming and high-quality health care they deserve.
McCray noted the city’s public hospiatl system, 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.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams thanked the NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull for their work on making the new Pride Health Center a reality.
“We have come a long way in the past two decades from the days when LGBTQ people could not see their partner in the hospital, or were forced to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity from their doctor,” said Adams. “Now we can proudly say that Brooklyn is the home of many hospitals that provide comprehensive LGBTQ health services, counseling, and research. We must continue the hard work to ensure all of our medical staff across the borough from large hospitals to small primary care facilities receive full training and provide care for the LGBTQ community.”
U.S. Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-Brooklyn, Queens, Lower Manhattan) said that “NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull has been a health care pioneer in many areas, and she is proud to see them open our neighborhood’s first LGBTQ dedicated, comprehensive health practice.
“This facility will mean that our LGBTQ community will have health services meeting their needs, reducing barriers to care for a population that is too frequently marginalized,” said Velázquez.
Other local electeds that represent the hospital, which serves the Bushwick/Bedford-Styvesant/Williamsburg catchment area included State Sen. Martin Malavé Dilan; Assemblymembers Maritza Davila, Joseph R. Lentol and Tremaine Wright; and City Council Members Robert Cornegy Jr., Stephen Levin and Antonio Reynoso.
LGBTQ New Yorkers can access care at the Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull Mondays from 4-8 p.m. with plans to expand to meet patient volume. In addition to clinic hours, LGBTQ-affirming care is available 24/7 at the hospital.
The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull is located in Room 2B-151 at 760 Broadway in Bushwick. Patients can make an appointment or walk-in for care. To get more information or make an appointment, call 718-963-8068.
