well this June marks the one-year anniversary of Virtua Health's Pride Primary Care Center in Marlton it's a facility aimed at filling a health care gap for the lgbtq plus Community a need that's grown over the years as individuals report experiencing fear or discomfort with other doctors who aren't familiar with their health issues that can lead them to avoid care altogether according to experts and as Melissa Rose Cooper reports doctors at the Virtua facility say the practice is booming and expanding it's just amazing to walk in here every day and know that I'm going to be seeing patients that I relate to and that will feel like they have finally found a provider that understands them a welcoming feeling Dr Shannon Gross says as proof they made the right decision to work at virtual Pride Primary Care in Marlton the facility offers primary care services for patients which includes addressing the needs of the lgbtq community since opening last June doctors have treated nearly 600 patients we often see the same things that we would see in any other practice we also sometimes see STIs that have been not treated or that maybe someone just was exposed but they finally found a place that they could come and be comfortable explaining how they might have been exposed and feeling that they are not going to be shunned or made to feel different I thought what a great opportunity to be in a place that is you know inclusive and welcoming to queer people Dane Cox has been coming to the facility for the past year before becoming a patient he says seeking treatment could be challenging there are definitely times when you bring something up and the the you know doctor or nurse whoever it is either isn't aware or could tell you caught them off guard so then immediately at least myself maybe being a little more reserved that kind of puts my guards up and then makes it a little bit more not painful but like emotion emotionally you're just like I don't know if I can necessarily be vulnerable with this person right now because I don't know if they're having a moment of judgment a lot of times patients in our community are afraid to seek care they are often excluded um in verbiage um they're forced to kind of educate their providers about their specific needs so to have a practice like this where we already understand what the patient is going through how to best serve them it just gives patients in our community a safe space to come and receive the care that they would like to receive and as someone who has experienced some of these same issues with their own treatment Dr Gross says they understand firsthand how important having a facility like this is I've seen many doctors that had felt either uncomfortable or less comfortable with and that's probably a big part of why I went into the type of medicine that I'm in I've learned to give the answers that the that I felt that the physician or provider needed even if it wasn't necessarily politically correct I would give them the answers that I thought would help them learn how to be uh more competent in lgbtq care starting July 1st a gastroenterologist will start seeing patients at the clinic and plans are in the works to add additional Specialties and services making sure all members of the lgbtq community get the care they deserve for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper [Music]