Mayor Adams, NYC Unity Project, and Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice Announce new Investment to Enhance LGBTQ Services at Pride Health Center at NYC Health[...]

July 1, 2024

Investments to Support Mental Health Services, Community Programming, Cultural Competency Training, Critical Renovations, and Access to Confidential HIV Prevention Services

Announcement Builds on Adams Administration's Investments in LGBTQ+ Community

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced new investments in The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson, one of seven Pride Health Centers in the city's public health system offering culturally-sensitive and comprehensive gender-affirming health care services to LGBTQ+ patients. Funded and developed in collaboration with the NYC Unity Project and the New York City Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice (MOERJ), the new investments include bolstering community and mental health programming, training for Judson staff, renovating the second floor of the clinic's century old facilities to create community spaces, and expanding access to confidential services for HIV prevention efforts. Today's announcement builds on the Adams administration's continued investments toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community, including a $5.4 million restoration towards the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) contracts for HIV related programs announced in the Fiscal Year 2025 Adopted Budget.

"With today's investment, our administration continues to ensure that LGBTQ+ New Yorkers receive health care that acknowledges and accepts their lived experience and gender," said Mayor Adams. "Judson remains a model to New York City and the nation on the ability of our public health system to deliver compassionate and culturally sensitive serivces that meet the needs of all seeking care. While Pride Month may have come to an end, our administration's commitment to LGBTQ+ New Yorkers has not, and we will remain focused on upholding our proud legacy as the home of Stonewall."

"The Pride Health Center at Judson not only continues the Adams administration's legacy of supporting the LGBTQ+ community by offering an array of services with respect and consideration, but it bolsters our efforts to support LGBTQ+ youth," said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar. "We are excited by the mental and physical health services offered at Judson, including programming like The Bridge, and the impact they will have in supporting youth and emerging adults as they navigate through life."

"New York City has a long, rich history standing with and standing up for our LGBTQ+ community," said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. "Our administration continues that with a range of support for the LGBTQ+ community, including expanded services at the Judson Pride Health Center. Along with our broader public hospital network, the Judson will always be a health care home that is welcoming, affirming, and supportive of all those who come through its doors."

"The Judson has long been a beacon for many LGBTQ+ New Yorkers seeking quality and culturally competent care," said New York City Chief Equity Officer and MOERJ Commissioner Sideya Sherman. "We are thrilled to support expanding and renovating the center to broaden access to community programming, mental health care, and other critical health services. Pride is a year-round commitment, and through the NYC Unity Project, our focus on serving LGBTQ+ New Yorkers remains strong."

"The NYC Unity Project is fortunate to have spearheaded a fantastic collaboration with NYC Health and Hospital/Gotham Health to bring about the renovation, expansion of programming, and growth of health services at Judson," said NYC Unity Project Director Ronald Porcelli. "I am thrilled to debut this groundbreaking effort. These investments from the NYC Unity Project and MOERJ, along with NYC Health + Hospitals' multi-year partnership, ensure we continue to advance LGBTQ+ equity through the flagship Pride Health Center. LGBTQ+ New Yorkers deserve nothing less. From peer support and mental health to economic mobility, I look forward to creating a vibrant community space and LGBTQ+ programming center of excellence under the continued auspices of our interagency collaboration. Happy Pride!"

"NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health is focused on providing patient-centered care that addresses the specific health care needs of all the communities we serve," said NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health CEO Michelle Lewis. "Our partnership with the NYC Unity Project will support our efforts to provide high-quality, comprehensive care to the LGBTQ+ community in a newly renovated space."

Thanks to the new investments, Judson will be able to build more robust programming and help a greater number of patients access mental health and community support. Programming will include peer support groups, mental health treatment groups, as well as wellness, vocational, and educational workshops. Funding will also be directed towards additional cultural competency staff training in facilitating groups, incentives for group attendance, and guest speakers. The NYC Unity Project will assist with community-oriented engagements in economic mobility, acceptance, and anti-discrimination. Judson will improve access to confidential pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services for patients as part of their HIV prevention efforts. NYC Health + Hospitals will now provide both confidential reproductive health care and dispense PrEP medication directly to patients during their confidential visit. Judson has also started offering the injectable form of PrEP, which allows patients to access PrEP medication confidentially and without worrying about adherence to daily medication, a barrier to consistent and effective use.

Through this partnership, Judson will undergo renovations to update, enhance, and optimize the patient experience and care delivery. When completed, the newly renovated second floor of the century-old clinic will become a dedicated space for the Judson community to house educational workshops, groups, and events.

In 2011, NYC Health + Hospitals became the first public health care system in the United States to mandate a Cultural Competence Training program for staff. The program was designed to teach staff to provide respectful, patient-centered, and culturally-competent health care services to LGBTQ+ New Yorkers who are served by public hospitals, community health centers, and nursing homes each year. NYC Health + Hospitals's Pride Health Centers serve as important spaces for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to receive gender-affirming health care. Providers at these centers have received extensive training to provide culturally responsive care in a safe, welcoming environment. Finally, today's announcement, once again, delivers on the mission of "Women Forward NYC: An Action Plan for Gender Equity,"a more than $43 million investment aimed at making New York City a national leader on gender equity, including for transgender and gender expansive New Yorkers, with the ambitious goal of becoming the most women-forward city in the United States. A key commitment within Women Forward NYC was reducing the annual HIV diagnosis rates for Black and Latina women by at least 50 percent.

The Adams administration has made continued investments and policy reforms to support the LGBTQ+ community. Earlier this month, the administration announced the appointment of Ronald Porcelli, Esq. as the director of the NYC Unity Project and the city's Family Acceptance of LGBTQ+ Youth Initiative, a groundbreaking program aimed at fostering acceptance and support for LGBTQ+ youth among parents, caregivers, families, and communities. In 2022, together with the NYC Unity Project, MOERJ, and the New York City Department for Youth and Community Development, Mayor Adams announced an investment of nearly $6.7 million to provide new and expanded services for the LGBTQ+ community. These new services provide wide-ranging support that include first-of-its-kind funding for capacity-building transgender and gender non-conforming/non-binary (TGNCNB)-led nonprofits, legal services, and support for homeless youth.

In another effort to support the LGBTQ+ community, Mayor Adams, last year, signed Executive Order 32 to protect access to gender-affirming health care in New York City. The executive order prevents the use of city resources to detain any individual who is providing or receiving gender-affirming health care services in the five boroughs. Additionally, the executive order denies the use of resources by the City of New York to cooperate with any prosecution or investigation by another state of an individual for providing or receiving gender-affirming care.

Earlier this year, Mayor Adams successfully advocated for and helped get the first-ever St. Patrick's Day parade on Staten Island to allow an LGBTQ+ delegation to participate, ending a multi-year dispute in the borough.

Finally, along with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Community Affairs Bureau, the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, and the Mayor's Office Community Affairs Unit, the administration announced a new process for New Yorkers to contact the NYPD to re-examine cases involving LGBTQ+ victims, including cold cases.

"Translatinx Network, the only trans and immigrant-led agency serving trans, non-binary, and queer communities in English and Spanish, is thrilled to hear about the increased investment by the mayor's office in collaboration with the NYC Unity Project in the Pride Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson," said Cristina Herrera, CEO and founder, Translatinx Network. "We applaud the Pride Center's allocation of funds to enhance their already-excellent organizational cultural competency. Trans and queer people still face barriers to care, and this will further help to dismantle stigma and increase patients' sense of safety, security, and acceptance in medical settings. We are especially glad to hear about increased mental health services, and access to injectable PrEP - two crucial and much-needed services for our communities. Congratulations to the Pride Center at Judson!"

"These improvements made by the Adams administration mark a critical step forward in investing in the wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community, specifically those of transgender experience," said Sean Ebony Coleman, founder and CEO, Destination Tomorrow. "Amid national bans on gender-affirming care and a lack of general health care resources, this initiative reaffirms the city's commitment to listen to our needs. When a city prioritizes the LGBTQ+ community, the quality of life for everyone improves. I urge other leaders to take similar steps in improving access to life-saving services and to show that their allyship extends beyond the month of June."

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