TOWSON, Md. — Dr. Kjell Wiberg, who has worked mostly with HIV patients for more than a decade, has "been asked more than once whether I could provide primary care, because people have appreciated to be able to be included and feeling safe in that environment."
But, as an infectious-disease specialist at Sinai Hospital, he notes that those patients often need an infectious-disease diagnosis, referrals with many insurances, and the prospect of higher costs if they do want to see him.
That's why Wiberg is becoming the lead provider at a new clinic in Towson offering primary care specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community.
The clinic is called AffirmCare and is the latest initiative from LifeBridge Health. LifeBridge and other local officials held a ribboncutting today - timed to coincide with the International Transgender Day of Visibility - at the new clinic, located in the Dulaney Center I office building at Fairmount Avenue and Dulaney Valley Road.
Wiberg explained:
"I want everybody to be able to be the best to be able to reach their full potential. There's so much untapped potential in this city. And I'm hoping to do my little part by working here in providing good health care for the LGBTQ+ community."
Matthew Poffenroth, president of LifeBridge Health Medical Group, said Wiberg and his colleagues "have expertise and compassion in treating this population. And we've designed the environment focused on respect, empathy, and inclusion."
Primary care is essential for chronic disease, but "access to care is one of the most greatest barriers," said Sevetra Peoples-Brown, Baltimore County's chief of diversity, equity and inclusion, at the ribboncutting.
Deborah Dunn, vice-chair of the Maryland Commission on LGBTQ Affairs (created in 2021), agreed the clinic "will fill a needed gap in primary care coverage for the LGBTQIA+ community."
AffirmCare patients will get services including regular check-ups, the continuation of existing courses of gender-affirming hormone therapy treatment, education and access to PrEP.
Eric Crouse is an AffirmCare patient, a medical assistant at LifeBridge, and a "proud gay man living with HIV." He said there are hundreds of laws or proposed laws nationwide "designed to tear apart the lives of drag performers and trans individuals," and "to limit in any way possible an individual's access to proper health care, especially if it is for gender affirmation."
He said clinics like AffirmCare are "necessary to the LGBTQ plus community, because we feel the need to be seen and be heard by our providers. We need providers that understand the specific challenges of the LGBTQ community that we as a culture face."
