Washington, DC – Today, Children’s National Health System announced the opening of the new Youth Pride Clinic within the Adolescent Health Center at the Sheikh Zayed Campus for Advanced Pediatric Medicine.
Health team members will provide seamless primary and specialty care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth ages 12 to 22 years at designated times during the regular appointment schedule of the Adolescent Health Center. Incorporating the clinic into standard scheduling helps prevent stigmatizing LGBTQ youth who come to Children’s National seeking primary care services.
“We know that there are anywhere between three to 15 percent of youth in the District who self-identify as LGBTQ, and there’s a tremendous backlog of unmet need for the care of these patients,” says Lawrence D. D’Angelo, MD, MPH, Division Chief of Adolescent and Youth Adult Medicine, and Director of the Youth Pride Clinic.
The clinic fills a need not only for the LGBTQ youth population in Washington DC, but also for referring physicians throughout the District, and community, who may have less experience in providing care to these patients and wish to refer them for more specialized care.
LGBTQ youth can face pressures and health risks that heterosexual youth do not, which can be compounded depending on whether they openly identify as LGBTQ.
“The clinic aims to address the health disparity that these youth have experienced in years, both not being able to talk about their sexuality and not being able to access the kind of healthcare that is most relevant to them,” Dr. D’Angelo says. “We’ll be providing care for not only the general health of these adolescents and young adults, but also for specific health problems that are more common in LGBTQ youth.”
In addition to primary care services, patients will have access to specialty services including mental health support and other resources throughout the hospital.
The clinic will have appointment times available during Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling 202-476-5464.
Contact: Caitlyn Camacho at 202-476-4500.
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