Pride Month Reflection: A Physician's Perspective

As I reflect on the history of our nation and the history of our community this Pride Month, I find myself filled with gratitude — gratitude for the progress we have made, and deep appreciation for the resilience of our LGBTQ+ community. I celebrate this month as a physician, as a mother, as a sister and as a neighbor who is proud to be in this community with all of you.

There is no better time than now to affirm what we mean to one another.

As I watch EvergreenHealth grow into a place of genuine safety and belonging, I want to speak directly to those who have ever felt the need to remain closeted or guarded about who you are and who you love: you are family here. We see you, we welcome you, and we embrace all of you — fully and without reservation.

This commitment is not just words. The dedicated individuals on our Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion committee have worked tirelessly to make meaningful change within our walls, and we are proud of the progress we have made including:

• Creation of a public-facing LGBTQ+ resource page to better connect patients and families with supportive information and services
• Development of a Philosophy of Care statement to help providers clearly signal inclusive, respectful care to all patients
• Addition of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a service to our Primary Care webpage
• Updates to our Patient Bill of Rights, including affirming that a patient's decision-maker can be any individual they designate
• Targeted social media outreach, including educational posts focused on transgender health and visibility
• Establishment of an Intersex Pediatric Policy to ensure that intersex children receive ethical, medically necessary, and developmentally appropriate care
• Updates to our Family and Medical Leave Act policy language to ensure equivalent leave protection for documented domestic partners
• Inclusion of LGBTQ+ demographic questions in patient surveys to better understand and improve the care experience

While these accomplishments are hard earned, we remain clear-eyed about the work still ahead.

This month reminds me of something fundamental to the care I and we at EvergreenHealth strive to provide every day: that each patient, colleague, staff member and family member who walks through our doors carries with them a full and rich life. Honoring that life — in all its complexity — is not just good medicine, it is the foundation of trust. It means listening when our community tells us where we fall short, learning from those voices and holding ourselves accountable to do better.

Happy Pride Month!