For LGBTQIA+ Patients

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Visiting a health care provider can be stressful for anyone, but for some of us, that feeling can be magnified by concerns about discrimination or being misunderstood. We also know that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, and asexual patients come to us with other identities that impact their health, well-being, and experience of receiving health care.

UHS works to provide affirming health and wellness services so you can be treated well and stay well. We continue to educate our staff and improve systems to welcome and serve all patients, inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Tips for navigating health care

Communication

We ask all patients questions relevant to their reason for visit about health history, behaviors like use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, sexual behavior, and experiences like violence.

We invite you to share openly and honestly with UHS staff. When you make an appointment, we will ask you questions to help match you with a clinician and ensure that you will have enough time during your visit to get your needs met. We hope you will feel comfortable to disclose enough information to our appointment schedulers so they can help you best. You can learn more about our clinicians on their profiles.

To provide UHS with your name, pronouns, sexual orientation identity and/or gender identity, log on to your patient portal and navigate to Health --> Questionnaires --> Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Form. If you do not yet have access to the patient portal, you can call 734-764-8320, visit UHS Registration in person, or ask any UHS provider to update this information during a visit. Once your health record is updated with this information, it will be used in all future communications and visits. We affirm that this information may change over time and are happy to update your record as needed. Please note that UHS shares a medical record system with Michigan Medicine.

Confidentiality
All UHS services are confidential by law. See Confidentiality for details. 

Choosing a clinician

We recommend finding a clinician with whom you feel comfortable to visit for ongoing health care needs. The clinician can get to know you, and by developing a relationship, you can feel safer discussing any concerns. You can change clinicians at any time. Feel free to ask friends or an appointment scheduler for a recommendation. You can request a clinician by name or by gender. See Clinician Profiles for a list. UHS has a Gender Affirming Team of health care providers specifically trained in providing affirming care to trans and non-binary patients. Patients of any identity can schedule with one of these providers.

Choosing a clinic

You can visit the clinic that is appropriate for the issue you want to address and where you feel most comfortable. Here are some suggestions:

  • Regardless of your gender identity, if you are having a general health issue such as a sore throat, headache, or mental health issue, your needs would be best served in the Primary Care Clinic. The Primary Care Clinic is also the best choice for concerns involving the penis, testicles or related sex organs. See How to Get Health Care.
  • If you need an annual physical exam and/or have a concern regarding the vagina, uterus, or related sex organs, you can go to either the Primary Care Clinic or the Gynecology and Sexual Health Clinic. There are clinicians in both the Gynecology and Sexual Health Clinic and the Primary Clinic who can perform a pelvic exam and address most gynecologic issues, so choose the place where you will feel most comfortable. See How to Get Health Care.

Give us your feedback
We hope that you have a good experience when you come to UHS. We invite you to tell us about your experience because feedback provides us with an important learning opportunity and helps us determine ways to improve our services and procedures. We address all complaints, and the more specific you are, the better we will be able to fix the problem. If you choose to include your name and a means to contact you, we will follow up with you.  Please use any of the routes on the Feedback webpage. Your feedback will be shared with the appropriate staff.

Other campus resources

More information