NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Unity Project, and the NYC Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice Launch Community Health Initiative to Protect Access to LGBTQ+ Health Care

NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Unity Project, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice Launch Community Health Initiative to Protect Access to LGBTQ+ Health Care

New York City partners with frontline organizations to strengthen neighborhood healthcare access and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ communities

Jun 30, 2025

In response to escalating threats and disinformation campaigns targeting the LGBTQ+ community, Mayor Eric Adams, the NYC Unity Project, the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice, and NYC Health + Hospitals launched a new, citywide initiative to protect access to care and empower New Yorkers across all boroughs.

The initiative, Community Coalition to Counter Attacks on Care, brings together trusted community-based organizations (CBOs) and public health leaders to build long-term, embedded support systems in neighborhoods most impacted by fear, stigma, and intimidation tactics that discourage individuals from seeking healthcare.

Frontline CBOs serving transgender New Yorkers and the wider LGBTQ+ community will receive funding to bolster their existing healthcare advocacy and education work. The City will support 10–20% of salaries for multiple team members, ensuring that healthcare access becomes a sustained, integrated component of each organization’s mission. CBO partners will work in tandem with NYC Health + Hospitals’ community advisory groups, conduct site visits to its clinics, and lead peer education programs to increase awareness of available care services and patient rights.

In addition to this community-centered model, the initiative includes several focused investments to strengthen and safeguard care citywide. Funding will support the purchase of diagnostic equipment and staff training to improve cancer screening services for the LGBTQ+ community. Funding will also support the completion of specialized staff training at the Pride Clinic at Judson, further strengthening safe and affirming care for LGBTQ+ people.

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to live a healthy life – free from stigma and fear,” said NYC Chief Equity Office and Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice Commissioner Sideya Sherman. “We are proud to support the Access to Care initiative, which centers the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people and leverages the expertise of community groups who have long championed equity and access. In a time when disinformation threatens health and safety, we stand with our partners to respond with education, protection, and care.”

“This initiative affirms that LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, especially TGNCNB New Yorkers, deserve to feel safe, supported, and seen when seeking care,” said Ronald Porcelli, Director of the NYC Unity Project. “By investing in trusted community partners and strengthening neighborhood-based services, we’re building a city where health equity isn’t aspirational, it’s actionable. We are proud to stand with our partners for connection, compassion, and care. Happy Pride.”

How NYC Supports LGBTQ+ New Yorkers:

The Adams administration is working to promote positive mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ adults. NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal hospital system in the country, is committed to empowering LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to live their healthiest lives possible and was the first municipal hospital system to open a health care center dedicated to the needs of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. NYC Health + Hospitals provides Pride Health Services in eight facilities across the city that offer culturally-sensitive and comprehensive gender-affirming health care services to LGBTQ+ patients.

The NYC Unity Project, the city’s LGBTQ+ interagency coordinating body, launched the NYC Unity Project Webpage, a digital hub for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. The digital platform serves as a user-friendly resource center, connecting individuals with vital services, programs, and support networks tailored to their unique needs, including an LGBTQ+ Government Services Directory, LGBTQ+ Community Resources Directory, and TGNCNBI Rights and Resources.

The Health Department maintains the NYC Health Map, which includes an online directory of LGBTQ+ knowledgeable mental health providers, and LGBTQ+ Health and Transgender Health resources. Through the NYC Health Map, you can also find LGBTQ-knowledgeable providers who can offer you services in primary care, sexual health care, and gender affirming care.

The Adams administration has made continued investments and policy reforms to support the LGBTQ+ community. The administration announced the city’s Family Acceptance of LGBTQ+ Youth Initiative, a groundbreaking program aimed at fostering acceptance and support for LGBTQ+ youth among parents, caregivers, families, and communities. In 2022, together with the NYC Unity Project, MOERJ, and the New York City Department for Youth and Community Development, Mayor Adams announced an investment of nearly $6.7 million to provide new and expanded services for the LGBTQ+ community, including mental and physical health services.

The Adams administration announced investments in The Pride Health Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Judson, one of eight facilities providing Pride Health Services in the city’s public health system providing culturally sensitive, gender-affirming care to LGBTQ+ patients. Developed in partnership with the NYC Unity Project and the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice (MOERJ), these investments enhance community and mental health programming, provide staff training, renovate the clinic’s second floor to create community spaces, and expand access to confidential HIV prevention services.

In another effort to support the LGBTQ+ community, Mayor Adams signed Executive Order 32 to protect access to gender-affirming health care in New York City. The executive order prevents the use of city resources to detain any individual who is providing or receiving gender-affirming health care services in the five boroughs. Additionally, the executive order denies the use of resources by the City of New York to cooperate with any prosecution or investigation by another state of an individual for providing or receiving gender-affirming care.

In New York City, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in public accommodations, including in health care settings. You can learn more by reading the LGBTQ Health Care Bill of Rights. New Yorkers experiencing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity can file a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights. For immediate mental health support, call or text 988 or visit www.nyc.gov/988. Trained counselors are available 24/7 by phone in over 200 languages and by text and chat services in English and Spanish.

LGBTQ+ Inclusive Healthcare and Pride Health Services:

NYC Health + Hospitals is committed to empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer+ (LGBTQ+) New Yorkers to live their healthiest lives possible. The public health care system provides responsive, compassionate and respectful care in a welcoming environment. It has a patient-centered approach toward ensuring meaningful access, regardless of language spoken or immigration status.

NYC Health + Hospitals was the first U.S. municipal health care system to mandate LGBTQ+ training for all staff members in 2011. In 2014, NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan became the first municipal hospital to open a health care center dedicated to the needs of LGBTQ+ patients. Today the health care system has Pride Health Services in eight facilities. All 18 eligible NYC Health + Hospitals health care facilities earned the “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” designation in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) in 2024 — a recognition these facilities have received every year since 2015. The HEI is the leading national benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and best practices in healthcare facilities. All 5 of the eligible long-term care facilities earned the “LGBTQ+ Long-Term Care Equality Leader” designation in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and SAGE’s Long-Term Care Equality Index (LEI) in 2025. The LEI is the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey of residential long-term care and senior housing communities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of LGBTQ+ residents, visitors, and employees.

How NYC Health + Hospitals Cares for You:

As a member of the LGBTQ+ communities, NYC Health + Hospitals understands you have special health care needs and concerns. To better serve the health care needs of the LGBTQ+ community, NYC Health + Hospitals has Pride Health Services in eight facilities across Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Pride Health Centers serve as important spaces for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to receive gender-affirming health care. Providers in these centers have received extensive training to provide culturally responsive care. NYC Health + Hospitals clinicians are here to address your health care needs and answer all your questions in a safe and welcoming environment.

Pride Health Services Locations:

LGBTQ+ Patient Information and Resources:

The following is a brief list of LGBTQ+ responsive policies and resources for NYC Health + Hospitals patients: Transgender Health Care Resource Guide, and the Patient and Resident Bill of Rights

Contact NYC Health + Hospitals:

For more information about its unique LGBTQ+ health care or any other LGBTQ+ related issues, please email: lgbtq@nychhc.org.

NYC Health + Hospitals provides advanced and sensitive LGBTQ+ health care services at select hospitals and neighborhood health centers. It has full wellness teams in every borough with extended hours that fit your busy schedule, dedicated to serving you and your family from the very first visit. Find a hospital or a neighborhood health center near you.

NYC Health + Hospitals provides high-quality health care to all New Yorkers, regardless of their ability to pay. It can also help you find health insurance if you need it. Learn more about MetroPlusHealth, their affordable and comprehensive health insurance plan. You can also visit the NYC Care website to learn more about their health care access program for care services at little or no-cost to New Yorkers who can’t afford or do not qualify for health insurance.

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About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Unity Project, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice Launch Community Health Initiative to Protect Access to LGBTQ+ Health Care