Cooper’s Center for LGBTQ+ Health
Posted by Justin Schweitzer, DO on June 7, 2021
Happy Pride month to those in the LGBTQ+ community as well as our allies! What started out as a movement sparked by protests turned into a month of both awareness and celebration for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming people. Over the past 50 years, June has been a time to come together to remember past sacrifices, recognize current struggles, and strive for a better future for our friends, neighbors, families and patients, no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identity.
At Cooper, there is a commitment to LGBTQ+ health across the organization. Some of the diverse care our team provides includes gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, gender-affirming surgical options, mental healthcare, and HPV vaccinations for individuals aged 9-45 to help prevent throat, genital, and anal cancers. The recently organized and always improving Cooper Center for LGBTQ+ Health provides a supportive environment to meet the unique, as well as routine and preventative, healthcare needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
At Cooper, we recently unveiled an updated Mission, Vision, and Values statement which focuses on inclusion to better respect others, value differences, and promote a sense of belonging for all. We have organized the Center for LGBTQ+ Health| Cooper University Health Care (cooperhealth.org) program to not only provide visibility of the existing care offered at Cooper, but to serve as a way to update you as the program grows. This should serve as a resource for our healthcare organization and the community to illustrate how our organization works to better meet the needs of our LGBTQ+ patients.
If you are a healthcare provider in the Cooper network and would like to participate in the Center for LGBTQ+ Health, please e-mail me at Schweitzer-justin@cooperhealth.edu to be included.
