Welcoming & Improving Care for LGBTQ+ Community: Q&A

When it comes to healthcare, LGBTQ+ individuals face many challenges. We’re committed to breaking down these barriers at UVA Health. We do this in small and big ways.

But exactly how do we create a welcoming place for our LGBTQ+ patients? Few people know this better than Bizz Glover.

She co-chairs UVA Health’s LGBTQ & Transgender Advisory Committee. She was also part of a leadership team that helped UVA Health University Medical Center earn a “Leader” score of 100 in the 2024 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). This index rates over 2,200 healthcare facilities on how well their policies and practices support LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and employees. 

In this Q&A, Glover answers questions on how UVA Health strives to provide the best healthcare for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.

I see several challenges. This community faces higher rates of mental health issues, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS. 

And if they have a clinical team that isn’t trained in cultural competence, they may experience the wrong diagnosis, inadequate treatment, or miss out on important preventive care. 

Adult transgender patients often struggle to get insurance to cover gender-affirming surgery.

They can have a difficult time getting reproductive health services.

Plus, if they face discrimination and stigma, a person may be reluctant to seek care, or disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. All of this impacts their healthcare.

We’ve made many changes to support our LGBTQ+ community:

• Our team members complete training called Delivering Compassionate Care to Patients who are LGBTQ+. And our yearly re-training reminds team members to treat all patients and visitors with compassion and respect.
• We created a form to capture gender identity and sexual orientation in our patients’ electronic medical record (EMR). And patients can upload photos of themselves to reflect an appearance change.
• We changed the name of our breastfeeding rooms to lactation rooms. Plus, our restroom areas now include gender-inclusive bathrooms and changing rooms.
• Our staff have been trained to ask patients what name they want to be called and what pronouns they use.
• Our patient experience survey allows a patient to identify whether they are a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Knowing the sexual orientation and gender identity of our patients allows us to build trust, tailor care, and avoid assumptions when providing care.

Tell us about successes of the LGBTQ+ & Transgender Advisory Committee?

We’ve had many successes. Progress such as:

• Creating UVA Health badge reels so our staff can display their pronouns. This shows our support for our gender-expansive patient population and normalizes the practice of identifying pronouns.
• Encouraging team members to get training from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center and the Center for Affiliated Learning.
• Sponsoring a UVA Health Pride Month Celebration. We do this in partnership with our Office for Diversity & Community Engagement. 
• Promoting HIV/AIDS, transgender, mental health, and other clinical services important to the LGBTQ+ community.
• Participating in Cville Pride, our medical students, providers, and members of the Advisory Committee show support for this annual event celebrating the local LGBTQ+ community.

How can UVA Health be even more inclusive & equitable?

I’d like to see every clinic manager and every leader enroll their department in our internal Safe Space Training. This is offered through a partnership with our Patient Experience Office. 

This training:

• Discusses LGBTQ+ terminology and allyship
• Covers clinical recommendations for best practices for team members and healthcare institutions  

We’ve made great strides. But we have more to do. Many of our initiatives come from patient and team member feedback. Please leave a comment below.

Your suggestions help UVA Health remain a leader in providing outstanding care to our LGBTQ+ patients.