Utah is getting its 1st full-service LGBTQ health clinic

The Utah Aids Foundation is renovating its location at 150 S. 1000 East in Salt Lake City to become Utah's first full-service LGBTQ health care clinic.

The Utah Aids Foundation is renovating its location at 150 S. 1000 East in Salt Lake City to become Utah's first full-service LGBTQ health care clinic. (Sydnee Gonzalez, KSL.com)


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah AIDS Foundation announced Wednesday that it is expanding to become Utah's first full-service LGBTQ health care clinic. The announcement also includes a rebrand to UAF Legacy Health.

The new primary care clinic is set to open in September and will offer mental health services, primary health care, gender hormone therapy and pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis — known as PrEP and PEP — which can prevent HIV infections.

Mental health services are already up and running, and the PrEP/PEP clinic will be open by July. The foundation will also continue to offer HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection testing. The funding for the expansion is a mix of the foundation's funds and contracts, private donations and a $2 million from Salt Lake County.

The goal is to bridge health care gaps for Utah's LGBTQ community by offering a one-stop shop that coordinates clinical care, supportive services and mental health care, according to CEO Ahmer Afroz. The decision is reflective of the foundation's 40-year history in addressing the AIDS epidemic.

"It is quite surprising that still today we have people who are refused care, who are just, kind of, frankly, outright given abusive treatment and medical care, and then choose to disengage altogether," Afroz said. "As we're just seeing these kind of gaps get bigger and health disparities among the population get bigger; it made sense for us to really take a step into this and move into more clinical services."

Afroz added that gaps cover health care issues ranging from diabetes and high blood pressure to HIV care and mental health therapy. The clinic hopes to give patients a positive experience by providing care that is both culturally competent and tailored to their needs. Doing so will prevent more serious health issues down the road that require more expensive emergency room trips and treatments.

"It's kind of a longer-term benefit for our health care system within Utah," Afroz said. "When you're dealing with a marginalized population who doesn't feel comfortable seeking care, who doesn't have necessarily the access, gets specialized care that's specific to their needs, our goal is kind of to deal with things early on in a comfortable environment."

The organization is currently renovating the bottom floor of its location at 150 S. 1000 East in Salt Lake City to include 10 exam rooms and five mental health offices. Administrative operations and a single exam room on the top floor will not be interrupted by the renovations.

The clinic will be headed by the foundation's current medical director, Dr. Susana Keeshin, and the foundation will also hire a nurse practitioner and another doctor.

The clinic will see both those with and without insurance. Afroz said the nonprofit will adhere to federal community health center guidelines when it comes to things like a sliding fee scale.

"Because we're still a nonprofit it lets us kind of act more nimbly and be able to see a percentage of uninsured patients, because we do know that that's quite a big gap," Afroz said.

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Sydnee Chapman Gonzalez is a reporter and recent Utah transplant. She works at the Utah Investigative Journalism Project and was previously at KSL.com and the Wenatchee World in Washington. Her reporting has focused on marginalized communities, homelessness and local government. She grew up in Arizona and has lived in various parts of Mexico. During her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, rock climbing and embroidery.

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