Healthcare Resources and HRT for the Transgender Community in Ohio

Hi Everyone,

You know that we want you to be healthy and safe.  To help you with your health care journey we are creating a list, by state, of health care organizations that serve the transgender, nonbinary, gender queer and non-conforming community.  While we are creating this site for you, we are also doing this weekly post on health care.  While it’s nice to have a list, in these posts we can also give  you a few details on what each of the organizations we post actually do.  We’ll just go through the states alphabetically, unless you send us a note and request a particular state and we’ll move requests to the top of the list.

There are quite a few resources in our home state of Ohio (making us proud Ohio!- bonus check the star for the location of B.UR.SLf and our very nearby manufacturer) Many resources are, to their credit, creating  comfortable places for routine and proactive health maintenance as well as interventionary health care.  We will try to highlight what is offered in each case.

If you still can’t find the health care you need, drop us a note on FB (B.UR.SLF LLC), instagram/ twitter @burslfllc or email burslfllc@gmail.com and we will see what we can do to help.

This week we are covering resources in Ohio.

Ohio

Equitas Health (Website – Trans and Non-Binary Health, FB – Equitas Health , IG – @equitas.health)

Trans and Non-Binary Health provides the following services, hormone therapy, primary care including annuals, STI testing and treatment, HIV specialty care, screening for cervical cancer, immunizaitons such as HPV, HIHep A & B, dental health, health care and legal clinics for name changes are also available.

Payment Opitons:  Equitas accepts many insurance plans and offers a sliding fee scale to patients who qualify, use the application in the link to apply. 

Equitas Health has 17 locations in 11 Ohio cities see the link locations and also offers telehealth.

Age limits for services are not obvious, but appear to be oriented adults, but call with any quesitons on age limitations.  

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Website – Transgender Primary Care Clinic, FB – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center , IG – @osuwexmed)

Transgender Primary Care Clinic includes – hormone therapy, primary care, HIV/STI testing and treatment including PEP and PrEP, referrals for gender affirming surgery, and cancer screenings.

Payment Options:  The patient and visitor guide page has links to insurance accepted and financial assistance options for patients who qualify. 

The Transgender Primary Care Clinics are located in Columbus and available every Wednesday at Ohio State Outpatient Care East and every Friday at Ohio State Primary Care Westerville. Ohio State also provides Telehealth, it is not clear whether transgender patients can be served by telehealt, so please call and check.

Age limits for services are not obvious, the services appear to be oriented adults, but call with any quesitons on age limitations. 

Cleveland Clinic (Website – LGBT Health, FB – Cleveland Clinic, and LGBT Youth, IG – @ClevelandClinic)

The Transgender Clinic at LGBT Health offers hormone therapy, primary care, gynecological care and referrals for gender-affirming surgery.  Services for LGBT Youth are not as clear, call the clinic for details.

The Billing, Insurance & Payments page has links to insurance accepted and financial assistance for qualified patients

The Cleveland Clinic is located in Cleveland and many locations in Ohio, click the link for more information.

The Clinic has separate services for adults  at LBGT Health and LGBT Youth.  

The MetroHealth System (Website –LGBTQI+ Pride Network Transgender Health Services and KIDz Pride, FB – The MetroHealth System , IG – @metrohealthcle)

The MetroHealth System has programs for both adults – Transgender Health Services and children & teens – KIDz Pride.

Transgender Health Services offers hormone therapy for adults and adolescents 16+ (with guardian consent) and adults following typical evaluations

KIDz Pride organizes a team to work with children, teens and their families to help navigate gender identity and make a determination on when the child/teen can receive hormone therapy, if needed.

LGBTQI+ Pride Network also offers the following services to 18+  primary care, HIV prevention – PEP and PrEP, OB-GYN, and various wellness services.  LGBTQI+ Pride Network also offers Pediatric Gender Services for patients under 18, call them for available services 216-778-8564. 

Payment Options: The MetroHealth System accepts many insurance plans  and has financial assistance for qualifying patients, click links for more information.

The MetroHealth System has numerous locations in northern Ohio, click the link for more information.

The MetroHealth System accepts children, adolescents and adults, contact the provider for more information about age limitations on services.  

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (Website –Adolescent and Transition Medicine Transgender Health Clinic, FB – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center , IG –  @cincychildrens)

The Adolescent and Transition Medicine  team will do a medical and psychological interview and then work with the client to create a treatment plane together with the appropriate referrals.  Treatment plans may include, hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery, menstrual suppression, birth control and speech or language pathology therapy.

Payment Optons:  Cincinnati Childrens accepts many insurance plans and In addition to works with eligible family to get financial assistance.

The Adolescent and Transition Medicine Transgender Health Clinic is located in Cincinnati.

The Adolescent and Transition Medicine Transgender Health Clinic works with patients from ages 5 -24 years. 

Planned Parenthood of Ohio is part of (1) organization Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio (PPGOH) which has (15) Health Centers and (1) Surgery Center (Website –PPGOH, FB – Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio , IG – @PPGOH)

Planned Parenthood of the PPGOH offers gender-confirming care including HRT in all Health Centers. Planned parenthood also has a wide range of many services available to all people including primary care, HIV, SIT testing, counseling, and treatment PEP and PrEP, contraception,and gynecological care including PAP smears.  Click the link named services for information on all services offered.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohios has many locations around the state including (16) Health Centers in Akron, Athens, Bedford Heights, Caton, Cleveland, (3) Columbus, Kent, Lorain, Mansfield, Cleveland, Rocky River, Toledo, Warren and Youngstown and the (1) Surgery Centers in Bedford Heights. Click the locations link above for more information.

Payment Options:  Many PP Health Centers accept insurance and offer financial help, check on the websites and with the center for details.

The service is intended for adults 18+, but the many PP Health Centers offer service to patients 16 to 17  andyou may be able to get HRT with parental consent and additional paperwork, check with the Health Center.

VA Health Care for LGBTQ Veterans in Oiho has (4) organization (Websites – Chillicothe VAMC,  Cincinnati VAMC, Dayton VAMC and VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, FB – U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs, IG – @VeteranAffairs)

According to the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs, Patient Care Services for LGBT veterans  includes the following (and other) services – hormone treatment, treatment and prevention of STIs/PrEP, cancer screening, prevention and treatment.  If there are questions reach out to the LGBT Veteran Care Coordinator (VCC) at the site

Payment Options: VA Health Care is offered free of charge to veterans.   Veterans may have some copays.

Chillicothe VAMC has (1) medical center, in Chillicothe and (6) associated clinics in Athens, Cambridge, Lancaster, Marietta, Portsmouth and Wilmington.

Cincinnati VAMC has (1) medical center in Cincinnati and (7) associated clinics (4) in Ohio in Cincinnati, Georgetown, Hamilton and Norwoodand (2) in Kentucky in Bellevue and Florence and (1) in Indiana in Greendale.

Dayton VAMC has (1) medical center in Dayton and (4) associated clinics (3) in Ohio in Lima, Middletown and Springfield and (1) in Indiana in Richmond.

VA Northwest Ohio Healthcare System ( has (1) medical center, Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Cleveland and (12) associated clinics in Akron, Canton, Mansfield, Calcutta, Willoughby, Sheffeild Village, New Philadelphi, Parma, Ravenna, Sandusky, Warren, and Yougstown and also the Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus.

LGBT Veteran Care is for U.S. veterans.

About the author, Gayle M. Frankenbach, Ph.D. is the mother of a Daughter, Lise and a transgender son Elliott.  Elliott and Gayle both passionately desire to care about and care for the trans community.  Elliott and Gayle also both love the unbound creativity of the cosplay community.  When we realized there is a big overlap between the two communities B.UR.SLF, LLC was born at the interface of these two great communities to serve them individually and together.  Elliott and Gayle also enjoy running a trans son & parent business to be visible for parents on a journey to visibly support their own trans kids and be a great allies.