SEATTLE — During Pride Month, Providence Swedish is participating in many Pride events in the community and highlighting its LGBTQIA+ Program. This includes hosting Pride flag raising ceremonies at all of its campuses, staffing Seattle Pride medical tents and marching in the parade.
“It’s a really great opportunity for us to remember, first and foremost, Pride in June, it’s a protest, and it’s a call to action,” said Dr. Kevin Wang, medical director for Providence Swedish’s LGBTQIA+ Program. “To have our program team members really make sure we commemorate and celebrate and remember what Pride is about, I think, is really fantastic.”
Providence Swedish’s LGBTQIA+ Program, focused on healthcare and advocacy, supports the community all year long.
“Our program seeks to improve the healthcare experiences of our LGBT+ communities,” Dr. Wang said.
The program team works on improving access to comprehensive healthcare and connecting patients directly with experienced and trained care teams and resources. They also focus on training those clinicians and providers from various specialties in LGBTQIA+ informed care.
Transgender and gender diverse patients can also receive care navigation services through the program to help them navigate the complexities of the healthcare system.
“We do have a few patients from out of state who are seeking care because of the bans and restrictions placed on their healthcare,” Dr. Wang said.
The four pillars of the LGBTQIA+ Program are: clinical support and services, data gathering and population health management, culture change and care navigation. Swedish has five full-time caregivers who run the program, including a system educator and a healthcare navigator.
Providence is now expanding the LGBTQIA+ Program to serve the greater Providence Clinical Network.
“We’re really hoping to utilize the things we’ve learned at Providence Swedish to serve an even larger LGBT+ community in the seven states Providence serves,” Dr. Wang said.
To learn more about the LGBTQIA+ Program, visit the Swedish website.
Sponsored by Providence Swedish
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