16 Jun Healthcare Resources and HRT for the Transgender Community in Rhode Island
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.
This week we are covering resources in Rhode Island. Rhode Island has a ton of resources for transgender, nonconforming, non-binary, gender queer and LGBTQ+ communities. Many resources across the country are, to their credit, creating comfortable places for transitional medicine as well as routine proactive health maintenance and 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 Rhode Island.
Rhode Island
Thundermist Health Center (Website – Trans*Health Access, FB – Thundermist Health Center, IG – @thundermisthc)
The Trans* Health Access team is a group of medical, behavioral health, and allied service professionals working to improve access to culturally and clinically competent healthcare for the trans community and offers medical, dental, and behavioral health care including hormonne therapy. Thundermist HC offers many other services including preventive care, HIV prevention and convenient care.
Payment Options: Thundermist has a sliding scale discount program.
Thundermist has several locations, check with the provider to find out which is best for your needs.
Age limits for services are not obvious, these services appear to be oriented to adults, but call with any quesitons on age limitations.
Open Door Health (Website – Gender Affirming Care, FB – Open Door Health , IG – @open_door_health)
Gender Affirming Care service at Open Door Health includes HRT, and referrals for gender-confirmation surgery. Open Door Health also offers primary care contraception options and sexual health, including STI testing and treatment, HIV testing, preventions e.g PrEP, and care, walk-in express testing for STI/HIV available.
Payment Options: Open Door Health accepts many insurance plans and also has a sliding fee scale, click the link insurance and payments for more information.
Open Door Health is located in Providence and telemedicine.
Open door health has youth services, including HRT for young patients 12+ and also services for adults.
Lifespan Health (Website – Adult Transgender and Sexual Behavioral Health Program, and Adolescent Medicine FB – Lifespan – A Health System, IG – @LifespanHealth)
Lifespan Health offer gender-affirming HRT to children, adolescents, young adults and adults and also offer puberty blockers to younger patients. Lifespan Health offers a variety other medical and behavorial services, click the link for more information.
Payment Options: include insurance and financial assistance, click the link insurance, billing and financial assistance for more information.
Adult Transgender and Sexual Behavioral Programs are located in Providence and East Providence and telehealth.
The Adult Transgender program is for adults and Adolescent Medicine program is for children, adolescents and young adults, check with the providers for exact age limitations for programs. See more about the Adolescent Medicineprogram and Hasbro Children’s Hospital below.
Lifespan Health and Hasbro Children’s Hospital (Website – Gender and Sexual Health Services and Adolescent Medicine FB – Lifespan – A Health System and Hasbro Children’s Hospital, IG – @lifespanhealth and #hasbrochildrenshospital)
Gender and Sexual Health Services provides the following gender affirming medical services – assessment of medical readiness for HRT nd puberty suppression, followed by gender-confirmation care and referrals for specialty care like gender affirming surgeons and community resources. The Adolescent Medicine program offers primary care and sexual health (including gynecological care) and contraception. This program partners with the Gender and Sex
ual Health Services for transition medicine.
Payment Options: include insurance and financial assistance, click the link insurance, billing and financial assistance for more information.
Many of the services for Gender and Sexual Health and Adolescent medicine are offered at Hasbro Childrens Hospital which has many locations and Lifespan Health which aslo has many locations as well as telehealth. These providers are centered in Providence, but check with the providers to find out if there are service locations that are more convenient for you.
These services are intended for children, adolescents and young adults check with the provider for exact age cut-offs for the two programs.
Brown University, LGBTQ Center (Website – Trans Health Care, FB – Brown University , IG – @brownuniversity)
Students and Staff can get primary health care at the LGBTQ center and referrals for many other services in the community like gender-confirming HRT, and surgery. The LGBTQ center recommends Thundermist (see above) as a resource for specialty care and also suggests checking with the TGI Network of Rhode Island (see below) for other specialty health care providers.
Payment Options: the Brown University student health insurance plan available to all students covers many gender-confirmation HRT, surgies and counseling. Insurance plans can change over time so for the most up-to-date information about coverage for your specific needs please contact the Brown Health Insurance office directly. The Brown University staff health insurance plans, Blue Cross Blue Sheild of RI and United Healthcare, cover many types of gender affirmation surgery, counseling, and hormones. Iinformation about different insurance plans for staff is available on the Brown Human Resources Insurance Website.
The LGBTQ Center and Health Services are both located on Brown University Campus in Providence.
Trans Health Care at the LGBTQ Center at Brown University provides services to students and staff.
The University of Rhode Island, Health Services (Website – Transgender Health, FB – The University of Rhode Island Health Services, IG – @urihealthsvcs
Transgender Health offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary services including referrals to a provider for gender-affirming HRT and assistance with instruction and injection for HRT once prescribed and referrals for gender-affirming surgeries. Other services include primary care, gynecologic care, including pelvice exams and cervical cancer screening, sexual health, and wellness services.
Payment Options: Most services are fully covered by student health care (the university charges a fee for health care) but there can he copays or fees for services not covered by the health services fee or other insurance programs.
Transgender Health is located on campus at Health Services in Kingston.
Transgender Health services are for full-time students and part-time students who’ve paid the health services fee.
Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island is part of (1) organization Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) and has (1) health center (Websites – PPSNE, FB – Planned Parenthood Southern New England, IG – @ppsne).
PPSNE has (1) health center in providence, Providence Health Center, which offers gender-affirming HRT at the location and by telehealth to patients anywhere in the state of Rhode Planned.Parenthood organizations offer a wide range services available to all people including primary care, HIV, SIT testing, counseling, and treatment PEP and PrEP, contraception and gynecological care including PAP smears. For services at each of PP organizations, click the services links in the above paragraphs.
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 Rhode Island has (1) organization (Websites – VA Providence Health Care, 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 – gender-confirming HRT 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.
VA Providence Health Care has (1) medical center in Providence and (3) associated clinics (2) in Massachusetts in Hyannis and New Bedford and (1) in Rhode Island in Middletown.
LGBT Veteran Care is for U.S. veterans.
TGI Network of Rhode Island (Website – Trans* Health Referral Guide, FB – TGI Network, IG – None Found)
TGI Network of Rhode Island is an advocacy, education and support group for trans and gender variant individuals in Rhode Island. As part of the Trans* Health Initiative, they provide the Trans* Health Referral Guide (link above) to aid in identifying medical providers and services for the Trans* community.
For payment options, locations and age limitations for services, contact individual providers.
Youth Pride (Website – Medical Health Providers, FB – Youth Pride, IG – @ypi_ri)
Youth Pride, Inc. is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of youth and young adults impacted by sexual orientation and gender identity/expression while working to end the homophobic and transphobic environments in which they live, work and play. Youth Pride Inc. is here to advocate for the policy needs of LGBTQQ youth and to foster self-advocacy among the youth that we serve. This includes everything from testifying at the statehouse and attending rallies to addressing the needs of youth in schools or in out of home care. As part of their mission they collated a list of Medical Health Providers (link above) for LGBTQQ youth in Rhode Island.
For payment options, locations and age limitations for services, contact individual providers.
PFLAG Providence (Website – PFLAG Greater Providence, FB – PFLAG Greater Providence, IG – @pflaggreaterprovidence)
PFLAG provides both the Trans* Health Referral Guide from TGI Network of Rhode Island and Medical Health Providers from Youth Pride. PFLAG is included because they may have other helpful resource on their website.
For payment options, locations and age limitations for services, contact individual providers.
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.