A vote FOR Issue 64 is a vote for the LGBT Community

As an at-Large member of Lakewood City Council, I represent the entire community. That includes the LGBT community.

There’s good news to share regarding healthcare services for the LGBT community: the new outpatient medical building to be built as part of Lakewood’s healthcare transformation plan will be home to the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Care. The Center of LGBT Care will serve Lakewood and be a hub for care on the entire west side. Demolition has begun to prepare the site, and the new outpatient building is scheduled to open in 2018.

Everyone needs a physician for their day-to-day healthcare issues. Whether it’s an aching back or a worrisome rash, a primary care physician can take care of those needs and whatever else may arise.

The Clinic’s Center for LGBT Care has already begun providing services at a primary care practice in Lakewood (and it will move to its permanent home at the new outpatient building once constructed). The Center provides care for adolescent and adult patients – straight or LGBT – in a safe and welcoming environment. The providers understand the health needs of LGBT patients and have expertise in LGBT care.

"Barriers such as fear of rejection or embarrassment, lack of knowledgeable and culturally competent providers and poor access are knocked down,” says James Hekman, MD, FACP, primary care physician and medical director of the Center for LGBT Care at Cleveland Clinic Lakewood.

While care is available to anyone, the Center provides a specialized focus on LGBT healthcare.

“LGBT patients have specific health risks that need to be addressed. We provide a comfortable environment with providers who have experience, knowledge and a better understanding of our patients,” explains Dr. Hekman.

The Center for LGBT Care specializes in the following areas:

• Primary care: General preventive healthcare, screening for disease, immunizations and counseling related to healthy behaviors
• Infectious disease: Care for high-risk diseases such as HIV and AIDS
• Surgery: Surgical expertise includes gender reassignment surgery, hysterectomy, plastic surgery, facial augmentation and tracheal shaving
• Gastrointestinal care: Care due to an increased risk for certain types of cancers (both HIV- and non-HIV-related)
• Behavioral health: Dealing with depression, anxiety disorders, and suicidal thoughts and actions, as well as dependency on alcohol, tobacco or drugs

“The Center for LGBT Care at Cleveland Clinic Lakewood is open to everyone in need of medical care. A welcoming environment and comprehensive and compassionate care is provided for all patients regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” says Dr. Hekman.

Healthcare resources at the Center for LGBT Care are just one example of high-quality healthcare services that Lakewood’s healthcare transformation plan will bring to the community. The Center for LBGT Care, the new outpatient health building, more than $120 million in investment (at no cost to taxpayers) and many other benefits are subject to a vote this Nov. 8 as part of a municipal ballot issue, Issue 64.

A vote FOR Issue 64 affirms the healthcare transformation plan approved unanimously by City Council in December 2015. A vote against will not reopen Lakewood Hospital, but only result in confusion, delay, and millions in legal fees and other costs to taxpayers.

I urge my Lakewood neighbors to vote FOR Issue 64. Among Issue 64’s many benefits, it will ensure the Clinic’s Center for LGBT Care will expand on schedule to a new, state-of-the-art headquarters in Lakewood and get to work providing excellent healthcare to many patients. It’s fair to say that a vote FOR Issue 64 is a vote for the LGBT Community.

Background on Issue 64:

Last year, city government voted unanimously for an agreement to build and operate a brand new, state-of-the-art medical center in Lakewood at no cost to taxpayers. This agreement ensures that Lakewood will have high-quality healthcare for many years to come.

On November 8th, Lakewood will have the chance to affirm this agreement by voting FOR Issue 64. This agreement is clearly the best option for Lakewood’s future:

• The now-closed Lakewood Hospital was losing significant funds – more than $1 million each month, with at least $90 million in maintenance and renovation to make it competitive with today’s hospitals.
• Without the agreement, the City would have eventually been responsible for hospital losses, requiring huge tax increases, or the hospital would have simply closed, with no healthcare options in sight.

Voting FOR Issue 64 will protect all of the benefits that Lakewood receives:

• The agreement guarantees that the Cleveland Clinic will pay for and build a new, modern medical center with uninterrupted emergency care available 24/7/365. There is no cost to taxpayers.
• The healthcare experience for Lakewood patients likely won’t change. Lakewood will still have:
  • Primary care and specialty outpatient programs, like geriatrics, cardiac care, and diabetes care.
  • Almost all of the same medical services (94 percent) needed by patients at the old hospital will continue to be available at the same convenient downtown location.
• The Clinic will pay Lakewood almost $19.6 million for transition costs and to help Lakewood redevelop the old site, and $32.4 million is being put into a Lakewood foundation to improve the community’s health.