eBar.com – by Heather Cassell
San Francisco’s well-known women’s health center has quietly dropped the word “women” from its name.
Lyon-Martin Women’s Health Service’s board of directors voted April 25 to make the change in response to requests from transgender patients and potential clients that the center received through e-mails and its annual patient satisfaction survey, said Dr. Dawn Harbatkin, medical and executive director. Currently, about one-third of the clinic’s 1,500 clients are transgender, both male to female and female to male, Harbatkin said, and trans patients are a fast growing part of the clinic’s client base.
“It was a very difficult decision. I think that having a women’s health center is important and serving women is important, but yet it’s not all of who we serve anymore,” said Harbatkin, 39, an out lesbian, regarding the board’s decision.