Callen-Lorde Community Health Center

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is the flagship LGBTQ+ healthcare institution and federally qualified health center dedicated to providing comprehensive, affirming healthcare and supportive services to LGBTQ+ communities throughout New York City. Tracing its origins back to the 1969 volunteer-run St. Mark's Clinic and the 1979 Gay Men's Health Project during the earliest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the organization incorporated in 1983 as Community Health Project and later merged to form Callen-Lorde, named in honor of pioneering gay rights activist Michael Callen and celebrated Black lesbian poet and activist Audre Lorde. Today, the health center serves more than 18,000 patients annually across state-of-the-art facilities in Chelsea, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

The organization’s cornerstone primary care practice provides affirming, whole-person medical services tailored specifically to LGBTQ+ populations who historically faced discrimination in mainstream medical settings. Highly trained medical clinicians deliver routine preventative physicals, chronic illness management, gynecological care, immunization clinics, and confidential sexual healthcare. In HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, the health center is a recognized national model, managing specialized HIV primary care, immediate antiretroviral therapy, and comprehensive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and DoxyPEP regimens.

Transgender and nonbinary health equity is a central clinical specialty. As one of the largest providers of gender-affirming medical care in the nation, the health center delivers individualized hormone replacement therapy, gender-affirming primary care, post-surgical care, referral letters for gender-affirming procedures, and legal identity document assistance. Specialized care navigators assist patients with insurance prior authorizations and healthcare system advocacy. Clinicians employ an informed consent model that honors each patient’s bodily autonomy and lived identity within a completely supportive, compassionate environment.

Holistic wellness is supported through extensive behavioral health, dental, and youth-focused programs. The behavioral health division delivers licensed outpatient individual psychotherapy, group counseling, psychiatric evaluations, and specialized addiction recovery support. In Chelsea, the health center operates dedicated dental suites providing cleanings, restorative dentistry, and oral surgery. For vulnerable young people, the Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) program and the Keith Haring Clinic deliver free, completely confidential medical, mental health, and sexual health services to runaway, homeless, and street-involved LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 to 21, including mobile medical van outreach across city neighborhoods.

Beyond direct clinical care, Callen-Lorde leads national education and research initiatives to improve healthcare access and cultural competence across the medical field. Through its Keith Haring Institute, the center trains medical residents, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals in transgender health and LGBTQ+ clinical protocols. Patients can access care by contacting the health center by phone or using the patient portal to schedule in-person or telehealth appointments. The center provides services to all patients regardless of health insurance status or ability to pay, utilizing a sliding-fee discount scale and on-site Medicaid enrollment specialists. Community advocates and philanthropic supporters can advance health equity through charitable donations and annual benefit events.