A roundtable on Montgomery County’s need for transgender health resources focused on ways to enhance what was referred to as “a desert” of options.
Panelists at the Saturday roundtable reported that some transgender people visit Baltimore or Washington, D.C., for medical care, according to a county survey. Due to the fact that so many doctors either don’t want to deal with them or are unable to do so, they frequently do not receive standard medical care and screenings.
Vice President Kate Stewart of County Council, who presided over the roundtable at CCI Health Services in Silver Spring, said, “I am really sobered and saddened that here in Montgomery County, we don’t have the resources.”
Only Planned Parenthood, CCI Health Services, and Mary’s Center currently provide LGBTQ+ community members with primary care and testing. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community don’t know where to look for them, despite the fact that some individual medical professionals also do.
According to Dr. Amena Johnson, Montgomery County’s LGBTQ community liaison, people of color, older adults, young people, and those who live in upcounty and don’t have their own cars are the most underserved.
“Where you live, you should be able to get your needs,” she said.
According to her, the region needs to assist in educating physicians on how to better assist residents of this area. Johnson also urged the state to provide a safe area for LGBTQ+ folks to congregate.
The chief medical officer at CCI Health Services, Dr. Will Giordano-Perez, stated that his business “is substantially expanding” its teaching and number of medical experts to assist people of the LGBTQ+ area.
According to him, CCI plans to open a store that will provide gender-affirming treatment, which includes preventive and primary care. It will also open an office for sexual and minority health.
He added that medical schools are not teaching this and that “So many people have to train their services.” He said, “We are at ground zero and we don’t understand.”
Rev. Assistant secretary Ali K.C. Bell discussed his transgender experience at Bethesda’s Cedar Lane United Methodist Church. Bell said, adding that he had high expectations for Montgomery County in comparison to his previous residences in Atlanta and Delaware, “I was thus upset.”
According to Stewart, the state must have the resources at its disposal “to receive attention in a way that is dignified.”
“I had a great time learning about the need for more transgender health solutions in MoCo and how CCI Health Services is addressing it.” With the following hashtags: @cmkatestewart @MDHealthDept @MoCoDHHS @MCDHSSDirector pic.twitter.com/xJ6YGlwZZR
— February 10, 2024, Kisha Davis (@kishadavismd)
happening right now! https://t.co/62V9oCHTuP #TransHealth pic.twitter.com/E06cS2sWeo
— Councilwoman Kate Stewart (she/her) (@cmkatestewart) February 10, 2024
“The lack of health care in Montgomery County is the focus of a Saturday summit on transgender healthcare facilities.” @mymcmedia @cmkatestewart pic.twitter.com/kk4YBs62fl
— on February 10, 2024, Suzanne Pollak (@SuzannePollak)
