SHORE CENTRE INTRODUCES CRUCIAL GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE CLINIC
SHORE Centre’s only location in the Waterloo Region is on Westmount Road north, with some satellite locations in Guelph. In SPECTRUM’s 2021 Waterloo Region Non-LGBTQ2+ Perception Survey, a significant portion of participants showed an unwillingness to consider transgender and/or non-binary people as potential romantic partners.
This expansion came as part of ongoing efforts to meet the growing demand for reproductive, sexual health and gender-affirming care and education in the Waterloo Region.
“I think about us as support for folks that may be on the margins when it comes to health care and for those who don’t have a place in health care,” Jess Huston, clinic manager at SHORE Centre, said.
The SHORE Centre’s gender-affirming care clinic opened on May 8, 2024. A soft launch for the event was available for a limited number of patients on Apr. 29, 2024. This comes after The Outlook Study prepared by the Rainbow Community Council in 2019, shows 23 per cent of trans people in the region reported their provider did not know enough about trans-related care to provide it.
“It was a natural fit for us to have a gender affirming care clinic here, because it fits with our mandate, it fits with what we’ve always done, you know?” Huston said.
At the gender-affirming care clinic, patients’ goals are prioritized.
The clinic’s main physician is a transgender woman, which a welcome change to how many transgender and/or non-binary patients must deal with.
About 76 per cent of patients had to educate at least four different health care providers. The top health care providers which needed to be educated were mental health providers, family doctors, clerical staff and psychiatrists.
“A lot of trans folks have trouble accessing those things, even more so than the cis population, because of the additional barriers of seeking affirming care,” Huston said.
Only 44 per cent speak with their primary healthcare provider about health issues specific to their gender identity, which is why SHORE’s gender-affirming care clinic is crucial for transgender and/or non-binary people. Clients can either get a referral from their healthcare provider or self-refer.
“Any clinician can do surgical referrals for a surgical abortion or gender affirming surgeries. But they don’t, they don’t feel comfortable doing it. They don’t feel like they have the information,” Lindsay Sweeney-Hawkins, the Executive Director of SHORE Centre said.
As of their grand opening in 2024, SHORE Centre has seen 267 patients for intake. They are currently booking six months out, which Huston speaks to the incredible need in the community.
“I think that for me, it is the really deep thread of all of the care we provide, it is providing care successfully, without judgment, and making people feel welcome while they are accessing,” Sweeney-Hawkins said.
Fifteen per cent of transgender and/or non-binary patients reported that hospital staff belittled or ridiculed them for being trans.
SHORE Centre’s gender-affirming care clinic acts as a line of defense for some of the most vulnerable people in the healthcare system today.
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