OhioHealth Medical Minute: PRIDE Month
What a month it has been for Pride in central Ohio with parades and support every step of the way. For the Columbus Pride parade, OhioHealth had quite a showing with more than 900 assocaites and family members registered for the special event.
With that in mind, Dr. Chris McClung spent time talking about Pride and the LGBTQ community in this edition of the OhioHealth Medical Minute.
Marcus Thorpe (Host): “Hello once again everyone, and thanks for joining us for another OhioHealth Medical Minute. My name is Marcus Thorpe. I’m happy to be joined by Dr. Chris McClung, who is a reconstructive urologist with OhioHealth. Dr. McClung, thanks for joining us.”
Chris McClung: “Thanks for having me.”
MT: “All right, let’s talk. It’s Pride Month, Columbus just had their Pride parade , and I know everyone’s really excited about that. From your perspective with the LGBTQ community, we’re talking about inclusion, a big thing with OhioHealth. How have you seen that change over the years, especially with our organization?
CM: “One of the big reasons I joined the organization of OhioHealth is you really get a feel for their commitment to diversity. One of the new core values in the mission statement is that of inclusion, and that is one example of how you really see the commitment to diversity. It’s especially important to a provider, such as myself, who has an emphasis in LGBTQ care.”
MT: “I know specifically you deal with the T and the Q of the LGBTQ community. What have patients said to you over the years about their experience of coming to physicians, not necessarily with OhioHealth, but just in general and kind of the struggles they’ve seen inside rooms just like this?”
CM: “The overwhelming response I get from patients is that of gratitude when it comes to getting culturally sensitive care, especially those with gender-health related issues. When we’re in to see a doctor, in general, we’re often at our most vulnerable point and having a safe place to access care is incredibly important, not only to these patients, but to all patients.”
MT: “All right, so things have changed quite a bit. Accessibility, especially. How have you seen that and what is the reaction of patients who come to talk to you, especially recently?”
CM: “I think access to healthcare for gender-related health issues has grown dramatically. I know that within OhioHealth in particular, we have an entire network of physicians who are dedicated to serving the needs of this population. And that ranges from surgical providers, such as myself, to primary healthcare needs, OBGYN needs, to maintenance of care.”
MT: “Dr. McClung, great information. Thanks very much.”
CM: “Thank you for having me again.”
MT: I’m Marcus Thorpe. Thanks for joining us for this OhioHealth Medical Minute.”
