LI’s New LGBTQ+ Health Center – Dan’s Papers

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Great things are happening in the health east for the LGBTQ+ community.

When the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center (EWHC), formerly known as the David E. Rogers, MD Center (in Southampton), officially reopens on June 11, it will not only have a new location (Hampton Bays), but also a new facility. and purpose – to serve as Long Island’s first comprehensive LGBTQ+ health center.

This means that in addition to continuing to provide health and care support and management for people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV testing through Rose Walton Services – a cornerstone of the facility since its opening in 1994 – the center will now include primary care services and expanded mental health services for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I’m very excited about this.” says Judith Kasen-Windsor, widow of the late Edie Windsor, Southampton resident and LGBTQ+ pioneer who successfully paved the way for same-sex marriage in the United States. Windsor passed away suddenly in 2017, but her legacy lives on.

“When they (Stony Brook Southampton Hospital) came to me and asked if they could rename the David Rogers Centre, the HIV center for the past 20-25 years, to the Edie Windsor Healthcare Centre, I was delighted” , says Kasen-Windsor. . “It’s important to have things dedicated and named after women. But in renaming it, I wanted to expand services to LGBTQ youth, seniors, women, the transgender community and in particular expand mental health services – I want all of Long Island to know these resources are there for them – if a child is struggling to get out, there is a professional there to help them through this process.

Kasen-Windsor envisions the Center as an excellent service connector with other LGBTQ+ services such as PFLAG (LGBTQ+ and their parents), Callen Lorde (mental health services), SAGE (LGBTQ+ seniors), and the Hetrick-Martin Institute ( LGBTQ+ youth).

“We can connect you to resources in the city and to services you can’t even imagine,” says Kasen-Windsor, who is “super excited” about working with a transgender resource center in Islip.

The mission of the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center is clear: “to provide accessible, compassionate, comprehensive and state-of-the-art care to all members of the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV”.

But how do you provide targeted health care to a community that is often hidden away or fearful of discussing their personal lives and their medical and mental needs?

“We know that the LGBTQ+ community uses less health care and has higher health risks than normal in other populations,” says Robert S. Chaloner, executive director of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

As plans for expansion and relocation developed between Stony Brook Medicine and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which oversees operations at the Edie Windsor Healthcare Centre, it became clear: there was a lack of data to understand the size, age range, and specific health care needs of the LGBTQ+ population — “a challenge that exists both locally and nationally,” says Chaloner.

“We knew from quick, informal polls that there was a need for primary care and a need for expanded mental health care,” says Chaloner, “but there was a lack of specific data about our market. .. people can be reluctant to talk about personal issues and a large part of the population is still not out of the closet. We wanted to respect their privacy, but we still want to know their needs,” he says.

Chaloner, who is ‘thrilled’ with the new Edie Windsor Center because it is ‘bigger, more modern and also gives us the ability to provide more clinical services than the old space’, defined the particular challenge of providing care world-class healthcare to an underserved community.

“Our commitment is to provide an environment where we remove bias and barriers and open up access and ensure the right specialists are available,” says Chaloner. This goal has led to a partnership with Stony Brook Medicine to administer a new survey: Long Island’s First LGBTQ+ Community Health Needs Assessment Survey – a landmark study that will seek vital data and shape the future of health care. LGBTQ in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Working with more than 20 partners, including the Suffolk County Health Department, the Women’s Diversity Network and the OLA of Eastern Long Island, the survey is part of an initiative “to provide the best care possible health outcomes and to ensure that the right specialists are available based on the needs of the population,” says Chaloner.

“The LGBTQ+ Health Needs Assessment Survey is online, anonymous, and open to all LGBTQ+ adults ages 18 and older, including those who question their identity and who currently reside in the counties of Nassau or Suffolk,” says Chaloner.

“Eligible respondents also include Long Island college, university, and technical school students 18 years of age or older, regardless of permanent address.”

The survey takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and the link will be distributed by partner organizations during ‘Pride Month’, until June 30. Respondents are encouraged to forward the survey link to their eligible friends and colleagues.

Meanwhile, at the new Edie Windsor Healthcare Center, staff and patients are buzzing with change.

Maureen Coley, a clinical social worker who has worked at the Center for 20 years, provides counselling, therapy and case management to help patients navigate insurance and “access the kind of comprehensive care in a system that can be very complicated,” is thrilled about the new facility.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “It’s bigger, it’s brighter, it’s a really nice place, more easily accessible and we can access other health services – trans health, addictions, mental health. We have a very good team here. We are now open to primary care and offer a full call, all in-house. »

The center’s primary care is anchored around Dr. Eric Lella, the center’s medical director and board-certified family physician in neuromusculoskeletal medicine.

“We believe you should always start with a good primary care provider,” says Chaloner, “that person becomes your health care coach,”

Lella, an osteopathic physician who focuses on treating the whole person as an interconnected unit (mind, body, spirit) along with Dr. Eric Finn, an infectious disease specialist, and Dr. Paul Garson, a psychiatrist, are treating physicians. The Center for Infectious Diseases’ longtime medical assistant is Jennifer Jolie (15).

“We are an LGBTQ+ affirmation practice,” says Lella. “We provide primary care services to anyone in the LGBTQ+ population, but we also provide primary care services to patients who are allies or people outside of that community – there is no reverse discrimination here. I have a lot of OMT patients – some who have HIV but aren’t LGBTQ+, some who are straight and don’t have HIV. We are an open practice for the community and for anyone who wants to settle here.

Originally from New Jersey, Lella says he came east for “Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s unique integrative residency program.” Lella has been with her husband for 8 to 12 years. They married last year and live in Hampton Bays.

Lella is particularly excited about the Centre’s new location.

“The advantages are that we have radiology departments in this building and a number of different specialties and specialists, GI, allergist, cardiology – all under the roof of Stony Brook Medicine.

He describes the staff of 10 as “absolutely wonderful – some of the coolest, nicest people I’ve ever had the chance to work with”.

For Jimmy Mack, a Southampton resident and EMT volunteer who has worked at the Center since it opened and who tested positive for HIV in 1987 and has lived with AIDS since 1997, the reopening and new expansion is both personal and emotional.

“They literally saved my life a few times,” Mack says. “The new place is bigger, better and beautifully located. I’m so excited about this. Everyone who works there is like family – that’s how they treat you. I can’t say enough good things about them. We are blessed to have them here.

For Kasen-Windsor, the Centre’s support is crucial. To that end, she and Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman created the Windsor Heart Project – a heart-shaped stone platform of small interlocking hearts on the lawn outside the hotel in town of Southampton where many couples are married. Proceeds from the purchase of a heart (where you can personalize an inscription) directly benefits the Edie Windsor Health Care Centre.

Edie WindsorOlivier Peterson

June 20 will be proclaimed “Edie Windsor Day” in New York City – a fitting tribute to Windsor’s birthday.

“It’s not just about Edie, it’s about the LGBTQ+ community, it’s about women. Edie was a genius, she coded, she worked for IBM. those years she was very low-key until probably the late 1980s,” says Kasen-Windsor.

At the new centre, the goal is to open the doors to expanded care, while respecting privacy.

“Sometimes, even in the East End of Long Island, people feel like it’s a small town and people want to know that their privacy is protected and they can feel safe and comfortable. where they come for care,” says Coley. “We really try to emphasize that we are open and welcome and that we will help you and protect your privacy as well.”

Chaloner says “we will always accept donations”, but stresses “the importance of word of mouth from the start” in supporting the Center.

“We want to see it grow and we love the feedback,” he adds. “Visibility is very important. Over the next few weeks, we’re encouraging people to take the completely anonymous survey – the more data we have, the better we can plan for the future and work with our partner organizations to create better services.

The Edie Windsor Health Care Center is located at 182 W. Montauk Hwy. Building B, Suite D, Hampton Bays, NY. (631) 287-5990. For more information, visit: stonybrookmedicine.edu/LGBTQ. For more information on the Long Island LGBTQ+ Community Health Needs Assessment Survey, visit: stonybrookmedicine.edu/LGBTQ/survey.

Order forms for the Edie Windsor Heart Project are available online at bit.ly/2SGMtCG. For info, contact [email protected] or call 631-283-6055.

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