A little more than two years after opening its doors, a Northern Virginia clinic for LGBTQ+ patients is seeing its client list and services expand, outpacing projected growth goals.
So far, doctors at the Inova Pride Clinic have treated more than 1,100 patients, which is well beyond what they initially expected.
“We were hoping that we could fill up the schedule in a few months,” said Dr. Jorge Ramallo, the clinic’s medical director. “And we were overwhelmed with the amount of need that was not being met. When they come in, we ask them their name and pronouns and let them lead the conversation.”
Cassandra Dowty, a married trans woman, was looking for a place like Inova Pride Clinic and having a similar chat. An online search guided her to the clinic in Falls Church, a one-stop shop offering everything from mental health care appointments to virtual doctor’s visits.
“I wanted to be a girl for a long time,” she told WTOP. “And I needed somebody to walk alongside of me and help me unpack my own journey.”
Dowty, 45, began her shift into womanhood last year. At first, she used the clinic’s counseling services because she didn’t know how to have tough conversations about her journey with her wife, who supports Dowty’s transition.
“I needed to really understand what was going on up here,” she said, pointing to her head. “The hardest thing I had to do was find the tools to be able to communicate with my wife.”
Five months ago, Dowty decided to continue her gender-affirming care with hormone therapy. Ramallo had an open spot on his schedule.
“It was kismet,” she said. “It’s a safe space. You can talk with them about anything. No judgment. It’s the first place I was able to confidently say my name and say my gender.”
Ramallo said about half of patients who visit the clinic are like Dowty, seeking gender-affirming care. The other half are members of the LGBTQ+ community who want high-quality care without the stigma or scrutiny.
“For a lot of our patients, they have to make a very calculated risk assessment,” Ramallo said. “They think, ‘If I come out to my doctor, how is that going to go?’ Unfortunately, it’s a real fear.”
Ramallo said most patients hear about the clinic through word-of-mouth in the tight-knit gay community. They make first-time appointments for one health care concern and continue coming to address other needs.
The goal is to build long-term, comprehensive care for patients, Ramallo said.
“For a lot of our patients, their main concern was gender-affirming care and that’s the reason why they’re coming into the doctor,” he said. “But since I’m also a primary care doctor, I say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about mammograms and your cholesterol because it’s a bit high.'”
Inova tapped Ramallo, who identifies as gay, to lead the clinic two years ago. During his medical residency, he decided to focus exclusively on the range of health issues facing the LGBTQ+ community.
“Each letter of the LGBTQ+ acronym has its own set of health challenges,” Ramallo said.
For instance, studies show that members of the LGBTQ+ community struggle with wide gaps in health inequities. Gay men struggle with higher rates of sexually transmitted infections and many of them visit the clinic requesting HIV-prevention prescriptions. Lesbian women have a greater risk of obesity and often forego lifesaving screenings like Pap smears and mammograms.
A 2021 American Heart Association study also tracked higher rates of heart disease among transgender and gender-diverse groups because of stress linked, in part, to transphobia and discrimination.
As clients step into the clinic, the effort to make them feel welcome begins. Workers decorate walls with rainbow flags and a receptionist flashes an easy smile to patients who are checking in.
“They continue to feel more comfortable every time they come in,” Ramallo told WTOP. “That continuity of care is really critical for us to address the needs that many of them have been keeping to themselves for a long time.”
Inova Pride Clinic is growing so fast that Ramallo is planning to add more doctors to the staff, expand services and even identify and register patients for leading-edge clinical trials.
The clinic also has a new cardiovascular clinic to study heart health among people identifying as gay, lesbian and transgender.
“The LGBTQ+ community has historically been excluded from medical research,” he said. “And the health care community is trying to do better.”
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