Transgender Health Guide

Transgender people experience significant barriers to accessing healthcare, transition-related or otherwise. FORGE estimates that 48 percent of transgender people postpone medical care due to associated costs, 28 percent postpone medical care due to fear of discrimination and more than half of transgender patients are not out to the majority of their medical providers. Given this reality, transgender people often experience significant stress concerning their medical care. This guide seeks to help relieve some of that stress.

This guide provides an overview for transgender West Virginians who are seeking a trans-friendly medical provider. In this guide, we will list specific medical providers, mental health professionals and entire facilities that we deem capable of providing competent and compassionate care to transgender people. Where applicable, medical and mental health professionals that provide specific services relating to medical transition will also be listed.

What Inclusion in this Guide Means

We take the health and mental well-being of the transgender community very seriously, and we understand there are many things that can be distressing for a transgender person accessing medical or mental health care. Every provider listed in this guide has gone through a training provided by Fairness West Virginia on how to provide competent and compassionate care to transgender people. If a clinic is listed, then more than 90 percent of the clinic’s entire staff has undergone such a training.

In the instance that receiving a training from Fairness West Virginia would represent a conflict of interest, those providers and clinics listed have been thoroughly vetted by a staff member. If you feel any person or clinic is listed in this guide is listed erroneously, please contact Fairness West Virginia with your concerns. You can reach the organization by email at info@fairnesswv.org.

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Provider List

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Clinic List

Note: Providers at Cabin Creek Health System clinics frequently travel between clinics, including those we have not specifically trained.

Important Notes

Financial Barriers

We understand that for many transgender people, cost is a real obstacle in accessing any medical care. Where applicable, we will note which clinics accept Medicaid, Medicare or CHIP, as well as any that have a sliding scale fee based on income or some other means of assistance to low-income patients. (Note: Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP may not cover transition-related services such as hormone therapy.)

LGB Patients

While the focus of this guide and the trainings facilitated by Fairness West Virginia is on providing a high-quality care to transgender people, there is also training on cisgender LGB patients as well. We feel confident that cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual West Virginians can use this guide as well to find competent and compassionate medical and mental health providers.

Religious Considerations

While some LGBTQ+ people may have reservations about religious-based or -influenced counseling, we acknowledge some may also be actively looking for such counseling. We plan to include a section on faith-based counseling for those who are interested.

Additional assistance

We understand that even with a guide, navigating this process can be daunting and stressful. If you require any additional assistance, please reach out to Natasha Stone, Transgender Visibility Organizer for Fairness West Virginia. She can be reached by email at natasha@fairnesswv.org

Acknowledgments

This guide is brought to you by Fairness West Virginia, the statewide civil rights advocacy organization dedicated to fair treatment and civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender West Virginians. Our mission is to ensure LGBT people can be open, honest and safe at home, at work, and in the community. We are open to everyone who believes in fundamental fairness.

The West Virginia Transgender Health Initiative has been made possible in part by a grant from The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation. Partners on this project include the West Virginia State Medical Association, the West Virginia Psychological Association, LGBTQ+ Social Worker Committee for the West Virginia System of Care, Mission WV, WV FREE, the WV School of Osteopathic Medicine, Planned Parenthood and the WVU LGBTQ+ Center.

Join Our Guide

Please only sign-up to join this guide if you have attended one of Fairness WV’s trainings about serving LGBTQ people or if you feel confident that you can serve transgender people with competent and compassionate care. If you aren’t sure, we can provide you with a free training and get you added to this guide. To inquire about this training, please email training@fairnesswv.org.