PRESS RELEASE
Stacy Lavilla
API WELLNESS LAUNCHES SAN FRANCISCO’S FIRST HEALTH HOME FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY IN THE CASTRO DISTRICT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – API Wellness is pleased to announce the opening of a new health center location on Market Street that offers affordable, quality health care for the LGBTQ community.
The health center, which will open its doors on Monday, April 10th, will offer comprehensive primary medical care, mental health, family planning, and full sexual health services including PrEP and PEP provision in one convenient location. Located in the newly-renovated SF LGBT Center, the clinic promises to fill a gap in LGBTQ-centered health care in San Francisco.
“It’s beyond time for San Francisco to have a fully-featured community health center created by and for the LGBTQ community,” said Lance Toma, chief executive officer of API Wellness. “Our community deserves high-quality health care that goes beyond sexual health and addresses our unique needs, particularly in this political landscape where both our rights and our right to health care are under attack,” he added.
API Wellness has for 30 years been a San Francisco leader in the delivery of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and served as a “home” to many of the community’s LGBTQ residents. Now, with a comprehensive, LGBTQ-focused health center, API Wellness will join the ranks of renowned health centers in major cities like Howard Brown Health (Chicago), Callen-Lorde (New York City), Los Angeles LGBT Center (LA), Mazzoni Center (Philadelphia), and Fenway Health (Boston).
“We are hoping to address what we see as a clear and visible need for care in this community,” said Dr. Tri Do, chief medical officer of API Wellness. “We know LGBTQ people face significant health disparities and are suffering at a higher rate relative to our straight counterparts. We are proud to be on the ground, doing this work.”
The health center accepts private medical insurance as well as Medi-Cal and Medicare and offers services on a sliding scale. It is located in the SF LGBT Center at 1800 Market Street, Suite 401.
About API Wellness
API Wellness is an LGBTQ and people of color community health center that transforms lives by advancing health, wellness, and equality. It believes everyone deserves to be healthy and needs access to the highest quality health care. At API Wellness, health care is grounded in social justice. With two locations, API Wellness is an anchor institution in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood and a comprehensive health home for the LGBTQ community in the Castro. API Wellness operates a fully licensed, federally qualified health center; runs one of the largest transgender community drop-in centers in the country; and is the premier HIV treatment and care provider for people living with HIV in the Tenderloin. For more information please visit www.apiwellness.org.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under H80CS28978 and Health Center Program for $650,000.00. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.