PROVIDENCE – Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has designated 10 new health care sites as LGBTQ Safe Zones, a certification that indicates that a center can provide quality care that meets the needs of LGBTQ+ patients.
Five out of the 10 new Safe Zones are affiliated with Coastal Medical Inc., a Lifespan Corp. practice serving 120,000 patients with more than 20 medical offices in the state.
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The five sites are Hasbro Children’s Hospital Adolescent Medical Clinic, Hasbro Children’s Hospital Rehabilitation Services, The Miriam Hospital Infectious Disease Department, The Miriam Hospital’s Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic, and Coastal Medical Consultants in Cardiology. These are the first Miriam Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital locations to receive Safe Zone certification, Blue Cross said.
The other five sites include: three Pappas OPT Physical, Sports and Hand Therapy locations, in North Kingstown, Lincoln and Woonsocket; Suzanne Lowe, certified nurse midwife, in Johnston; and JStone Therapy, adult clinical therapist Julie Stone, in North Providence.
“We understand that feeling respected and safe is critical to the LGBTQ community, which has historically experienced mistreatment and discrimination in health care settings,” said Scott Gowrie, Safe Zone program lead. “We’re pleased that our Safe Zone program continues its steady growth and now includes a broad range of providers. This latest cohort importantly includes several major providers that offer gender-affirming care and sexual health services, including practices that specialize in serving adolescents.”
Blue Cross selects new LGBTQ Safe Zones twice a year. Since its establishment in 2016, it has certified 80 practices as Safe Zones.
Claudia Chiappa is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Chiappa@PBN.com.
