Corktown Health set to open LGBTQ+ health center in Hazel Park

Hazel Park — Corktown Health, a Detroit-based nonprofit that provides HIV support services, is expanding into Oakland County with an LGBTQ+ focused health center that is scheduled to open by the end of 2024, president and CEO Anthony Williams said Wednesday.

The new health center, located on John R in Hazel Park, is part of Corktown Health's Driving Health Equity Campaign that aims to expand health access and services for the LGBTQ+ community. The center will provide wraparound services, including primary care, dental care and food assistance, Williams said.

"While medical advancements have moved steadily forward, health care discrimination continues for people who identified as part of the LGBTQ community," said Patty Martin, chair of the Corktown Health Board of Directors. "We decided something needed to be done about these issues, and we just decided to build a clinic. Our goal was to help drive health equity in Detroit."

Corktown Health's flagship location in Detroit opened in 2017 and has since expanded to provide members of the LGBTQ+ community with everything from HIV medical care, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and PrEP for HIV prevention to behavioral health services, gender-affirming care and nutritional counseling. The center's programs reach over 4,000 people a year, roughly 30% of whom are living with HIV.

One patient, Jacob Martinez, 25, was diagnosed with HIV last year and has been going to Corktown Health ever since.

"I really had nowhere else to go to," Martinez said at the news conference Wednesday. "If Corktown didn't have the resources to handle emergency situations, I may not be here today."

Corktown Health launched a fundraising campaign for the Driving Health Equity initiative to raise $8 million over the next couple of years and already has collected $3.2 million.

"I'm proud to lead the community effort to ensure that we have the resources to both expand access to the services at our location in Detroit but also to bring those same services to LGBTQ+ residents in Oakland County," Martin said.

Corktown Health's involvement in Hazel Park and Oakland County predates the new health center. It previously hosted dental clinics for uninsured Hazel Park residents, according to City Manager Ed Klobucher.

The Oakland County Health Division has been working with and referring LGBTQ+ patients to Corktown Health for the past five years, said Madiha Tariq, Oakland County deputy executive. Corktown Health also has been enrolled as a county Monkeypox and COVID-19 vaccine provider.

"Corktown Health became one of our top referral sites for LGBTQ communities for PrEP communities, as well as others who felt that they often experienced medical gaslighting and discrimination because of their identity," Tariq said. "This (new) space will not just provide medical care but also address social determinants of health."

Health care providers, such as nurse practitioners, can also train with specialized communities at the new center, Tariq added. Oakland County has allocated $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan to help fund the Hazel Park health center.

The Albert Khan Associates architecture firm will work with Corktown Health to design the clinic, which is expected to open by the end of 2024. Corktown Health focuses on addressing health disparities in the LGBTQ+ community but it is open to everyone, Williams said. The organization also has programs to help low-income residents and patients without health insurance.

hmackay@detroitnews.com

Twitter: hmackayDN