Finally, gay men in Canada now have a safe place where they can consult health concerns especially fears of HIV infections. The gay men's clinic in Winnipeg, Canada, aims to respond to the health need of gay, bisexual and even men who have sex with men.
According to CBC News the Our Own Health Centre mainly focuses on HIV among the said community but claimed that the medical facility is also open to the public. "As a gay man myself, about 30 years ago, I first proposed this idea in Winnipeg and at that time I had hoped to be able to develop this clinic in the context of HIV," said medical director Dick Smith.
He noted that during that time, very few men had HIV so he had a hard time justifying the need for such clinic. But for the past years, LGBT clinics started opening in the area so Smith was determined to continue with his plan.
The doctor explained that the difference of the medical facility to other LGBT clinics is that it mainly caters to men who have sex with men. He mentioned in the CBC News report that they will screen men for sexually transmitted diseases, perform surgical procedures and even provide sexology consultation.
"It's an important milestone but we are still far from securely achieving our goal," Smith added. He noted that he wants to raise more money to be able to hire quality doctors in the future.
Winnipeg Free Press added that during its opening last Saturday, the clinic already intro ducted three part-time doctors, kinesiologist and a full-time physician assistant. But Smith definitely wants to improve on the services offered by the clinic by having more specialists.
"[Gay men] have unique health care needs and we believe that they deserve optimal health care that takes their specific health and wellness needs into account," he added. Smith also shared that all staff and doctors at the clinic are gay to make "appropriate and insightful."
