Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which delivers LGBTQ-affirming care to thousands of patients at multiple locations across New York City regardless of ability to pay, has renovated and expanded its Bronx location into a much larger space, allowing the organization to serve far more patients than before.
Callen-Lorde, which also has locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, is remaining at the same location in the Bronx — 555 Bergen Ave., fourth floor — but the new space is five times larger and comes with 16 behavioral health rooms, 10 medical exam rooms, a pharmacy, an on-site lab with rapid access, a group therapy space, and offices. The 17,000 square-foot space will allow Callen-Lorde to grow its behavioral health services to serve more than 1,500 patients over the next three years, up from just 270. In total, the location will offer enough space for Callen-Lorde to serve 14,000 medical patients per year.
Until this point, the space — which first opened in 2016 — had just one behavioral health room, four exam rooms, one injection room, a smaller pharmacy and lab, and limited office space, according to Callen-Lorde.
“We are excited about our new Bronx clinic because it means we can reach even more people who deserve access to healthcare on their own terms from providers who understand the community’s diverse lived experiences,” Patrick McGovern, CEO of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, said in a written statement to Gay City News. “Research shows that culturally competent care improves health outcomes and quality of life. Taking care of our health should be joyful, not fearful. At Callen-Lorde we care about the whole person from sexual health to primary care and behavioral health — let us be your one-stop shop so you can get on with living your best life.”
With locations in three boroughs, Callen-Lorde plays a key role in the city’s LGBTQ healthcare landscape. McGovern recently told Gay City News that the organization has continued to deliver gender-affirming care for youth with private, non-federal dollars at a time when some other providers — including NYU Langone and Mount Sinai — have ended youth gender-affirming care in the face of pressure from the Trump administration. Callen-Lorde is one of two providers that may benefit from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s recently-announced plans to allocate $9 million to non-profit providers to deliver gender-affirming care services for youth.
“Our new Bronx facility will serve as a sexual health, HIV treatment, and prevention hub, including cutting edge long-acting injectable medications,” Demetre Daskalakis, the chief medical officer at Callen-Lorde Community Health Clinic, said in a written statement. “Whether you are a primary care patient with Callen-Lorde or not, our HIV prevention care is available to everyone. We have so many options to prevent HIV that patients can choose the best option for their individual needs and our rapid access lab will make the process move faster than typical HIV screening.”
Yadiro Solano, the health center director for Callen-Lorde’s Bronx location, said the new location will help address healthcare disparities in the Bronx, which has less than a quarter of the availability of providers as Manhattan on a per-resident basis, according to New York State health data.
“As a community health center, we serve everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and we look forward to welcoming even more of our neighbors here at Callen-Lorde Bronx,” Solano said. “Many of our team have roots in the Bronx and are bilingual in English and Spanish and care deeply about the wellbeing of our community here.”
The Bronx location is near the Third Avenue-149th Street 2/5 subway station. Callen-Lorde’s other locations are at 356 W. 18th St. in Chelsea and 40 Flatbush Ave. Ext., 3rd Floor in downtown Brooklyn.
According to Callen-Lorde’s website, individuals can be seen for a “quick care” walk-in appointment on a first-come, first served basis, or schedule an appointment for the same or next day, if available.