Whitman-Walker Clinic Applauds Institute of Medicine Report on LGBT Health 

LGBT Community “Deserves” High Quality Health Care

Washington, DC – Whitman-Walker Clinic applauded the Institute of Medicine’s historic report on LGBT Health. The report calls on health researchers to actively engage LGBT populations to determine the status of the community’s health and to fully understand what the unique health care needs of LGBT people.

“One of the biggest obstacles we run into in caring for the LGBT community is a lack of data,” said Whitman-Walker Chief Medical Officer Ray Martins. “Without a full understanding of what unique health care needs LGBT people have, the medical community has a harder time determining a course of care for them. Without uniform knowledge, the care that LGBT people receive can vary dramatically from provider to provider.”

“Good data will also help better train health care professionals to provide quality care to LGBT populations,” said Martins. “The current lack of data hinders training of health care providers, whether they are in medical school, in residency or already in practice. Accurate information on what the LGBT community needs will improve the quality of both current and future providers.”

“The LGBT community deserves the same level of high quality care regardless of what provider they see,” said Martins. “Certainly anyone who is LGBT and comes to Whitman-Walker will receive the highest quality of care. But it’s important that the LGBT community receives that quality regardless of where they go. This report is the first step towards making that happen.”

Established in 1978, Whitman-Walker Clinic is a non-profit, community-based provider of health care in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Through two sites in the District of Columbia, the Clinic offers primary medical and dental care; mental health and addictions counseling and treatment; HIV education, prevention, and testing; legal services; and medical adherence case management. Whitman-Walker Clinic is committed to meeting the health needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and people living with HIV/AIDS.