Identity Alaska is closing its Anchorage clinic this month due to multiple logistical and financial challenges. The clinic is the only dedicated LGBTQ+ focused health care center in the state and serves around 1,500 Alaskans for primary and mental health care. Most of the clinic’s patients were in Anchorage, but health care providers also saw patients across the state through travel and telehealth.
Tom Pittman, executive director of Identity Alaska, said that losing this piece of community infrastructure for Alaska is devastating.
“It's jarring and it's quick, and there's a lot of grief that the community is going to feel this is such a critical resource, and not having it will be painful,” he said.
Pittman said the clinic has “faced serious pressure from a handful of challenges” at once.
“We've not been able to receive roughly half of the payments through Medicaid for the care that we provided since December. For such a small nonprofit healthcare clinic, we don't have deep resources, and so that created immediate and ongoing cash flow pressure,” Pittman said.
He said those payments were delayed in the bureaucratic process, which is not an issue unique to their clinic, or to Alaska. But he said delays can be devastating for small clinics who rely on Medicaid payments.
He said the clinic also faced challenges with the space they were leasing, with insurance billing and with the pressures of running the clinic under a presidential administration hostile to LGBTQ+ people.
Pittman said most primary care providers can provide similar health care, including hormone replacement therapy and medications to prevent HIV transmission. But, he said there are many clinics that don’t provide that kind of care, sometimes due to a lack of education or prejudice.
Studies show many LGBTQ+ people experience discrimination in the healthcare system, barriers to accessing care and some avoid getting healthcare because of it.
He said Identity staff will help current patients find other care.
“There are a few organizations, a few providers in the area, that have responded, as a testament to their values and who they are, in immediately getting to work to try and make sure that there is a smooth transition and that there's as little disruption as possible,” Pittman said.
He said patients should reach out through their patient portal for medication refills and referrals.
Pittman said the needs that Identity met for Alaskans aren’t going away.
“It's through community that Identity was created,” he said, “and it's through community that we'll be able to continue to take care of each other.”
Identity Alaska was founded in 1977 as the Alaskan Gay Community Center, and merged with a health clinic in 2021. Identity was in the early stages of starting a second clinic in Spokane, Washington, which will also close.
Pittman said most primary care providers can offer similar health care, including hormone replacement therapy and medications to prevent HIV transmission. But he said there are many clinics that don’t provide that kind of care, sometimes due to a lack of education or prejudice.
Most of the clinic’s patients were in Anchorage, but health care providers also saw patients across the state through travel and telehealth.
He said Identity staff will help current patients find other options.
“There are a few organizations, a few providers in the area, that have responded, as a testament to their values and who they are, in immediately getting to work to try and make sure that there is a smooth transition and that there's as little disruption as possible,” Pittman said.
He said patients should reach out through their patient portal for medication refills and referrals.
