Providing Transgender and Nonbinary Care at Planned Parenthood

A few words from Maureen: 

“What led me to apply to Bellagio in the first place, and the guiding influence for my project/writing has been creating useful, accessible, free tools to under-resourced small community and rural health care providers to help them meet (end exceed!) the needs of underserved communities. Far too often, continuing education and resources for care providers in smaller health centers are out of reach due to price or being grand-planned ideas which required huge starting funds. A huge inspiration in my writing has been the people — both patients and providers — I had the privilege of caring for and within 30 years of holding a community health care role. The needs remain significant and accessible resources to remove barriers to care are essential.”

Quote from Providing Transgender and Nonbinary Care: 

“We are people that want to do right. When we see a patient with a need, we want to remove barriers to care, provide exceptional, compassionate services, and relevant, accessible tools for that person to soar. Whether they have made it through a wild and difficult journey to arrive and check-in for their appointment, or had the ease of supportive friends, partners and family to get them there, we see each patient as someone that deserves our presence, care, and services to meet their unique needs. The gift of our care in many people’s life is about being seen and heard — often, sadly for the first time — in a medical setting. We are people who see the critical importance of self-determination, bodily autonomy, and agency. Here is what we also know. We know that transgender and nonbinary people face extreme barriers to care, often surmount unreasonable hurdles, and once they arrive at a provider’s office are too frequently subjected to bias, stigma, discrimination and uninformed, unprepared providers that can do far more harm than good. Given who we are as providers, we are uniquely positioned to build new partnerships and create places where transgender and nonbinary people find a medical home, affirming care, compassion, and unfettered access to a path of self-determination, bodily autonomy, and agency.”