Click here for the latest updates from the Los Angeles Department of Public Health: publichealth.lacounty.gov
Click here for the latest updates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): cdc.gov
UPDATED APRIL 08, 2020
Important updates about our Health Services:
Our first priority remains the health and well-being of our clients, staff, and community. We are and will stay open for services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are taking new clients and scheduling new appointments, most of which are now conducted online or by phone (telehealth). You must, however, have an appointment in advance to visit our Health Services facilities. We are not accepting any walk-in visits at this time.
Please call (323-993-7500) or send a portal message (lalgbtcenter.org/myportal/login). to schedule an in-person visit.
- The vast majority of our routine primary care, HIV care, PREP and transgender care appointments have been converted to telehealth. This means you will meet with your provider by phone (video option coming soon) instead of in-person for your regular visit.
- If you haven’t signed up for a FollowMyHealth portal account yet, please visit lalgbtcenter.org/myportal.
- As always, if you think you are having a true life-threatening medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or go immediately to your nearest emergency room.
Building Hours:
- McDonald/Wright Building (Schrader Boulevard): 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment only
- Pharmacy at McDonald/Wright Building (Schrader Boulevard): 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
- Center WeHo (Santa Monica Boulevard): 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment only
- Trans Wellness Center: 10 a.m. to. 6 p.m. for window service only
- Center South: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for window service only
HIV/STI testing and treatment: Due to the Safer At Home order, the Center has made the difficult decision to postpone all routine, low-risk, asymptomatic testing at this time. If you have symptoms or think you may have been exposed to HIV or an STI, please call for an appointment.
Pharmacy Delivery: The Center Pharmacy will deliver your prescriptions to you at home or wherever you are staying. Delivery is free of charge anywhere in the state of California. Please call or send a portal message to arrange for delivery and allow 4 days between notification of a needed refill and delivery. Please do not leave multiple messages as this creates longer wait times for everyone.
Primary Care: The Center is open for all primary care needs. All routine visits are being performed via Telehealth. Many urgent issues can also be handled by telehealth. If in-person needs are identified during your Telehealth visit, that will be arranged.
HIV Care: The Center is open for all HIV-related needs. All routine visits are being performed via Telehealth. Many urgent issues can also be handled by telehealth. If in-person needs are identified during your Telehealth visit, that will be arranged.
Trans Health Program: The Center is open for all transition-related services. All routine visits are being performed via Telehealth. If in-person needs are identified during your Telehealth visit, that will be arranged. Note: most non-emergency surgeries have been postponed at this time to prepare for the coming surge in COVID-19 cases in California. We are communicating with our surgery and insurance partners and will assist with getting people back on the schedule when this crisis has passed.
Audre Lorde Health Program: The Center is open for all needs related to pelvic health, reproductive health and other ALHP-related issues. All routine visits are being performed via Telehealth. Many urgent issues can also be handled by telehealth. If in-person needs are identified during your Telehealth visit, that will be arranged.
Mental Health: The Center is open for all mental health needs. All visits are being performed via Telehealth. For clients currently on the wait list, we will be moving forward with new client placements as soon as we are fully set up with Telehealth. All regularly scheduled group meetings are up and running or will be soon. Meetings are held virtually. The Center is open for all psychiatry needs. All visits are being performed via Telehealth.
Addiction Recovery services: The Center is open for all Addiction Recovery Services; Intensive Outpatient Group, Evening Outpatient Group, After care Groups, MAT services and Harm Reduction Groups through Telehealth services. The direct Recovery Services number to contact is 323-993-7448. Please leave a voicemail and an outreach staff member will contact you.
STOP Violence services: The STOP Violence Program is open for all those who are experiencing intimate partner violence, family violence, and other crimes including sexual assault. Both routine visits, and those that are of a more urgent nature, are being performed via telehealth. Please contact us at (323) 860-5806 or [email protected] If your situation requires more immediate assistance, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). If you are in a life-threatening situation, call 911 immediately.
Additional Health Services:
- Laboratory Services: The Center lab is open and seeing patients by appointment only. Please speak to your provider first, by phone or portal message, to arrange for lab testing. Note: we are not performing routine COVID testing at this time.
- Specialty Care Referrals: The Center’s Referrals Department is open and able to refer patients for specialty care, as determined by your medical provider. Availability of various specialists, testing, and procedures is limited and highly variable during this COVID-19 crisis. We will work with you and your medical provider individually to determine how best to meet your needs.
- Case management: The Center’s case management teams are standing by to help you with your wrap-around support needs, from housing, to food access, unemployment and other benefits. While resources are limited right now, we are still connecting people with needed services to the extent possible.
- Research Studies: Our research team will be in contact with you directly to discuss new protocols.
We have received numerous community requests for how they can help during this crisis. To that end, we’ve established a CARE Fund to ensure essential services and support are here for those who need them. Information can be found at lalgbtcenter.org/care
You can also donate items directly to our seniors and youth through our Amazon Wish Lists at lalgbtcenter.org/care4seniors and lalgbtcenter.org/care4youth
UPDATED: MARCH 27, 2020
Watch an update from Chief of Staff Darrel Cummings:
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we remain committed to providing critical services to those who need it most.
In order to help protect our clients and the community, we have currently restricted youth and senior programming to lunch services and critical needs. Housing and other critical services remain open.
Service hours at our McDonald/Wright location are now 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Pharmacy is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Center WeHo is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everyone entering the buildings are being screened for COVID-19; if you are feeling unwell, please call and speak with a healthcare professional before visiting our locations.
Those staff who can work at home have been encouraged to do so. A number of our staff members have also moved quickly out of their normal work roles to help out wherever they’re needed across the organization, including helping sort and deliver food for our seniors as well as screening clients coming to the McDonald/Wright Building for services.
We are especially mindful of the social isolation many of our clients are experiencing and are doing everything we can to stay connected. Virtual one-on-one sessions, groups, and classes are now available for many of our clients, including mental health, seniors, social networking, and Trans Lounge.
We’re launching our Hello Club, a phone check-in system that staff and volunteers are using to check on our seniors and other clients who may be feeling isolated. Our first group of callers were trained this week and calls to folks will start next week. This will be a great way to reach thousands of our clients and give them someone to talk to, get referrals for help, get groceries and supplies if needed, and help with everyone’s overall anxiety and isolation.
We have received numerous community requests for how they can help during this crisis. To that end, we’ve established a CARE Fund to ensure essential services and support are here for those who need them. Information can be found at lalgbtcenter.org/care
You can also donate items directly to our seniors and youth through our Amazon Wish Lists at lalgbtcenter.org/care4seniors and lalgbtcenter.org/care4youth
UPDATED: MARCH 20, 2020
We are committed to providing critical services to those who need it most and have no intention of doing anything less. There are tens of thousands of people depending on us. We are a “first responder” for our LGBT community. We have never walked away from our community during tough times and we will not do so now.
In order to help protect our clients and the community, we have currently restricted youth and senior programming to lunch services and critical needs and are postponing large gatherings. We are especially mindful of the social isolation many of our clients are experiencing and are doing everything we can to stay connected. Housing and other critical services remain open. Those staff who can work at home have been encouraged to do so.
Service hours at our McDonald/Wright location are now 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Pharmacy is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Center WeHo is open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everyone entering the building is being screened for COVID-19; if you are feeling unwell, please call and speak with a healthcare professional before visiting our locations.
We have received numerous community requests for how they can help during this crisis. To that end, we’ve established a CARE Fund to ensure essential services and support are here for those who need them. Information can be found at lalgbtcenter.org/care
AIDS/LifeCycle 2020 has been canceled, although vital fundraising continues. Read the press release here and read more about the community’s inspiring commitment to carry on here.
UPDATED: MARCH 13, 2020
We appreciate all of your support, in particular as we work to continue to serve our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. So that staff are available to meet the extra needs of our clients at this time, we are temporarily suspending all clothing donations to the Center. We’ll post again when donations resume. Thank you!
UPDATED: MARCH 12, 2020
Like most of you, in recent days the staff at the Center has been focused on the news of the evolving novel coronavirus epidemic. For us, of course, this hits close to home. As a provider of health and social services for the most vulnerable in our community, we feel a special responsibility. We are working night and day to ensure that our services remain available to those who may have nowhere else to turn in a time of crisis. That is what we do.
In responding to pandemic, the Center’s first priority, of course, is the health and well-being not just of our clients, but also of our staff and the community at-large.
From the outset, we have been following the recommendations and guidelines of state and local public health officials and we will continue to do so. Our senior management and Health Services teams are meeting daily as we continue to evaluate and navigate what protocols and procedures to enact.
Based on the evolution of the response to COVID-19, including the recent states of emergencies declared by Los Angeles County and the State of California, today we have taken additional steps to protects our clients, staff, and community.
- Simply diVine, scheduled for Saturday, April 18, has been cancelled. We are still evaluating whether or not to reschedule. You can read our statement about the event at simplydivine.org. Our production of HAIR has also been postponed–read our statement at lalgbtcenter.org/theatre.
- Decisions on future large gatherings hosted by the Center are still being assessed. Whether or not an event or activity is canceled, it is still imperative that if you are feeling sick—whether that’s from a cold, flu, or COVID-19—you stay at home.
- For our staff, we have temporarily restricted air travel and conference attendance.
- We are also developing contingency plans for staff should the pandemic escalate. While some large companies are already embracing broad work-from-home strategies, as a provider of vital health and social services, we feel a responsibility to keep our services available at a time when the need is so great during a health crisis.
- All Center locations have protective masks available should a client exhibit COVID-19 symptoms while visiting the Center. Protocols have been in place at our health care facilities to help symptomatic clients. Similar protocols are also in place for our seniors residing at Triangle Square as well as for clients of our youth and senior centers.
- Advisories were sent to more than 35,000 of our Health Services clients earlier this week about how they should respond if they experience symptoms. Advice on best practices for visiting our clinics was included. (Scroll down to review that information.)
We continue to urge everyone to follow the recommendations of public health officials along with common-sense practices:
- If you are sick stay home. You should not attend public gatherings or meetings if you have a fever and cough.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Carry a tissue with you if you think you might sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue available, cough into your arm, not your hands!
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in between hand washing when soap and water aren’t immediately available.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, as these are the easiest areas for germs to spread through.
Thank you for all your support. There no doubt will be some difficult days ahead. But through it all, the Center commits to making sure that we will be there—not just for those who need it the most, but for all of you in our extended family.
UPDATED: MARCH 06, 2020
The Center’s Senior Management and Health Services teams are meeting almost daily as we navigate what protocols and procedures to enact. The Center is adhering to the common-sense best practices and we continue to follow the counsel of public health officials while we monitor the situation. Our first priority is to keep our clients and staff safe and healthy. To that end, the Center recommends:
- If you are sick stay home. You should not attend public gatherings or meetings if you have a fever and cough.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Carry a tissue with you if you think you might sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue available, cough into your arm, not your hands!
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer in between hand washing when soap and water aren’t immediately available.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, as these are the easiest areas for germs to spread through.
UPDATED: MARCH 06, 2020
FOR OUR HEALTH SERVICES CLIENTS:
Having Symptoms? Stay Home.
We want to keep you and the community healthy. If you are experiencing symptoms of a cough, cold, fever or the flu, please stay home!
Call us first. If you are experiencing symptoms of a cold or flu, including fever or cough, please call us before you come in. This will help prevent the spread of germs and protect you from being exposed to other infections.
Most people do not need to go to a doctor for minor flu-like illnesses and the symptoms can be treated with common over-the-counter flu and cold medications.
If you are experiencing fever or cough, do not come in for routine appointments, including therapy and STD testing. If you receive primary care at the Center, please call us and one of our trained health professionals can help determine what the best course of action should be. If we are not your medical home, call your usual primary care provider.
UPDATED: MARCH 06, 2020
Who is at risk for coronavirus?
The virus is spread by very close contact with someone who is infected, especially from their coughs or sneezes. Most people appear to have mild symptoms but individuals over age 65 and those with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease are at greater risk of becoming sick.
I am HIV positive. What should I know?
Clients with HIV do not appear to be at greater risk than the general public for becoming ill with coronavirus if exposed.
UPDATED: MARCH 06, 2020
Help Prevent the Spread of Germs
Stay home if you are coughing and/or sneezing!
Use a tissue to cover your coughs and sneezes and throw your used tissue in the trash. If you do not have a tissue, turn away from people and cough into your shoulder or your sleeve. If you have a mask you can wear one, but this won’t fully protect the people around you.
Do not use your hands to cover your coughs and sneezes.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth as these are the easiest areas for germs to spread through.
Wash your hands often to avoid getting sick. Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds — aka the equivalent of singing the “Happy Birthday” or “¡Feliz cumpleaños!” song twice. If soap and water is unavailable, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Wash your hands before you eat.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects, like your cell phone, door knobs, reusable beverage containers and work space using disinfectant wipes or sprays.
Consider buying a digital thermometer so that if you do get a cough or cold, you can more easily monitor yourself at home and share changes in your healthcare provider.
Will wearing a mask protect me? Wearing a mask will not help to keep you healthy. We are not recommending that patients and community members purchase or obtain masks to prevent infection. The best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy is to follow the hand washing and cleaning instructions above.
The best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy is to follow the hand washing and cleaning instructions above. Keep well hydrated by drinking water and be kind to your body by getting enough sleep, regular exercise, and avoiding or limiting alcohol use.