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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – LOS ANGELES (June 7, 2018) — As cities across the nation celebrate Pride Month, Cedars-Sinai physicians and administrators are working to expand and enhance the health system’s comprehensive healthcare services for transgender patients.
In addition to becoming one of only two academic medical centers in the Western U.S. that offer gender-affirming genital surgery, Cedars-Sinai now provides transgender medicine primary care in Beverly Hills and Culver City.
“It’s important to recognize that not all LGBTQ community members have access to quality medical care,” said Mary Clare Lingel, vice president of Strategic Integration at Cedars-Sinai Medical Network. “We’re striving to meet a critical need.”
Thirty-one percent of transgender people in the U.S. say they have no regular doctor or form of healthcare—partly out of fear of discrimination, according to a 2017 National Public Radio survey.
At Cedars-Sinai, transgender patients have access to a range of comprehensive services, including hormone management, case management and HIV care. The Transgender Surgery and Health Program offers male-to-female and female-to-male gender-affirming surgeries, and several other types of surgeries—as well as vocal cord and speech therapy, fertility preservation, and mental health and psychiatry services.
“It is such a privilege to take care of the transgender community, which historically has had poor access to care,” said Carl A. Violano, MD, a Cedars-Sinai primary care physician with a decade of experience in transgender medicine. “I feel a deep sense of responsibility to provide excellent care to our transgender patients.”