MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We have talked about businesses being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we are turning the focus to private medical practices. Local 24 News reporter Brittani Moncrease checked in on one Memphis clinic trying to stay afloat.
January of 2020, Local 24 met Dr. Susan Lacy. She started one of the few clinics in our area specializing in transgender care. Shortly after opening, the coronavirus pandemic began making for a challenging future.
“There are a lot of transgender people everywhere. We’re just not trained,” said Dr. Susan Lacy, Modern Gynecology and Reproductive Health (MORE) Founder and Owner.
It is a problem Dr. Lacy has taken head on. She opened MORE in September of 2019. It is one of the few practices offering transgender care.
“Everything was kind of on a nice trajectory. Then, as so many people have faced, we were hit with COVID,” said Dr. Lacy.
What was looking up has fears of going down.
“Building a practice and trying to get new patients in has been really problematic because people are afraid to go to the doctor’s office,” said Dr. Lacy.
This adds to an already big problem for transgender persons.
“It’s always difficult for people to make that initial appointment for transgender care,” said Dr. Lacy. “They have been met with resistance. They have been met with discrimination...They have had to provide education to their providers.”
To keep the practice going, friends started a GoFundMe. Community members poured in.
“It’s been really great to have that sort of level of interest and support,” said Dr. Lacy. “Financial support is wonderful and very appreciated, but making yourself aware of the need is really important.”
Transgender care is still fairly new to many medical programs. Dr. Lacy plans to work with local medical students to help provide training.