Transgender Care at DAP Is Here For You
Transgender residents in California seeking culturally competent, compassionate medical and behavioral healthcare in a stigma-free setting can always get it at DAP, with help navigating coverage through Covered California as well.
Visit https://www.daphealth.org/health-services/gender-affirming-care/ for more information.
We asked Anthony Velasco, Co-Chair of DAP’s Transgender Health Program, to help allies understand a little more about transgender people’s experiences with healthcare, and how we all have an opportunity to help create spaces that all are welcome in.
Question: Some in healthcare wear their pronouns on their nametags (i.e., she, her, hers) What does it mean to a trans person when they see this on someone’s name tag when they come in for services?
Answer: Pronouns matter --- acknowledging someone’s pronouns and using their pronouns is a sign of respect and courtesy. Wearing our pronouns on our nametags, identifying the pronouns we use when we introduce ourselves, and adding pronouns in our signature lines also creates a safe space for individuals who have experienced misgendering or those who are afraid to be misgendered. Wearing our pronouns on our nametags also signals to our patient that --- we see you, we acknowledge you, and you are safe with us.
Question: How can we help people understand why so many trans people face barriers to basic healthcare?
Answer: We need to talk about the stigma experienced by trans people throughout their lives.
Cis-centered and heteronormative policies and practices greatly limit the resources and opportunities for them and their communities.
Many have reported delaying preventative care due to discrimination they have experienced from their health care providers, including verbal harassment. Many also report having to educate their doctors about gender affirming care when it should be the other way around.
I believe that gender-affirming care should be integrated in primary care, and that primary care clinicians should be able to provide gender-affirming primary care.
Question: How do we create a world with more culturally competent healthcare clinicians providing reliable transgender care services?
Answer: Stigma against gender-diverse individuals has permeated in different levels of our society, and we must fight it all. We start this by integrating LGBTQ-health related content in medical, nursing, and allied health curricula.
At most colleges, the median number of hours in the medical curriculum on LGBTQ health is only 5 hours, and even less for nursing curricula. At Desert AIDS Project, we enrich this, ensuring that nursing and nurse practitioner students, medical students, and residents are exposed to health-related issues unique to the LGBT community.
Providing all team members an understanding of how transphobia, homophobia, and racism all have direct impacts on our clients’ health is a core training aspect with our future clinicians at DAP. By doing this, not only are we able to model the values of inclusiveness and diversity we stand for, but we also shape future clinicians to value inclusiveness and diversity once they start their own professions.
More about HHS removing ACA protections
The news about HHS removing ACA nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people for health care and insurance does not affect access to care and services at DAP.
At DAP, we offer our transgender and non-binary community culturally competent, compassionate medical and behavioral healthcare in a stigma-free setting. We also help them navigate through Covered California, our state’s insurance exchange, for access to MediCal or other options. We do not turn anyone away because they don’t have insurance.
Anyone can still access Transgender Care at DAP. Thanks to our own state’s insurance practices and civil rights law, LGBTQ people remain protected. Unfortunately, transgender people do not have the same rights across the U.S.
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Get Access To the Care You Need
One Call is a service that can enroll callers in health insurance or Medi-Cal through Covered California, register them for medical and behavioral healthcare, and schedule their first appointment at DAP — all in approximately 45 minutes. This is a significant reduction in the amount of time this would normally take, thanks to a DAP Healthcare Navigator who will work one-on-one with each caller.
Callers can access One Call service by calling 760-992-0426, Monday – Friday, 9am – 4pm PDT.
Sexual Health Clinic - Palm Springs
1695 N. Sunrise Way Palm Springs, CA 92262
Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 AM (Closed for lunch from noon-1:00 PM)
Call 760-992-0492 to schedule an appointment.
To reach our after-hours answering service, please call (760) 323-2118.