Healthcare issues appear regularly in today’s media blitz, but rarely, if ever, does anyone discuss the specific healthcare needs of the transgender community. The harsh reality is that, until the transgender community finds a foothold in mainstream society, crucial and accurate information remains difficult to obtain. This knowledge void has forced many in the community to rely on questionable information they might acquire "off the streets," in internet chat rooms, or from some potentially unreliable sources. Frequently, out of frustration and desperation, rash decisions are made resulting in disastrous, irreversible outcomes.

In an attempt to fill that void, the Trans Health Program at Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia was founded based on a charter to put an end to the fearful unknown by offering a caring and compassionate means of providing safe and professional services for individuals interested in making a full medical/surgical transition. The Mazzoni Center offers a full spectrum of assistance, to both the community and individual, in transition-related areas including medical, emotional, social, occupational, vocational, spiritual, and legal services.

According to Susan Collins, "LGBT Specialist" at the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, "We receive phone calls and e-mails every day requesting competent, compassionate transgender healthcare advice. The calls come from as far north as Maine to as far south as South Carolina. We are constantly amazed at the distance people are willing to travel, and are forced to travel, in order to gain access to quality care. The message we hear over and over is that there is a lack of healthcare access because it doesn’t exist in their area or there is discrimination associated with that access or there is an inability to access care because of financial reasons."

To support the transgender community the Mazzoni Center promotes and advocates the rights and equitable treatment of transgender individuals in today’s society. The center has taken proactive steps by offering outreach educational services to healthcare providers regarding appropriate transgender care. As a result of this outreach, many participating providers, once reluctant to provide such care, now feel more comfortable and competent. Additionally, the Mazzoni Center hosts the Trans Health Conference in Philadelphia each Spring. This unique three-day conference provides holistic training, to both providers and the community, ranging from the fundamentals to in-depth issues of transgender healthcare. Finally, the center has recently welcomed visiting representatives from the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston, who came to study the Mazzoni Center’s Trans Health Program. During their visit, these individuals studied the elements of the safe patient healthcare programs of the Mazzoni Center in order to incorporate those same philosophies into their venue. The Callen-Lorde in New York City has also contacted the Center to coordinate a similar visit. The Mazzoni Center is prepared to take any and all steps needed to provide access to safe, quality healthcare to the transgender community.

The Mazzoni Center’s attention to the needs of individual begins as the patient crosses their threshold. All new visitors requesting assistance are provided with a Trans Resource Guide, a consolidated listing of all trans-friendly services in the Philadelphia area. In addition, the center’s Trans Health Program provides primary healthcare, including smoking cessation, hormone replacement therapy, and mental health services through their Open Door department. The Open Door department provides psychiatric, individual, family, drug and alcohol abuse, and group counseling to those who identify as gender variant. The center also performs pre-operation physical examinations and lab work as well as post-operation medical care. Although the center does not perform surgery through their center, it does provide assistance in identifying reputable and reliable surgeons for those who are interested in those services.

Dr. Kathy Rumer, a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon from The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, offers a caring and compassionate approach to patient care. Specializing in the most advanced surgical and non-surgical reassignment procedures in use today, she supports the efforts at the Mazzoni Center and exercises a holistic approach in her own practice. Dr. Rumer can assist you with Gender Confirmation Surgery (MTF or FTM), all feminization or masculinazation procedures, laser hair removal, permanent cosmetic issues and much more. Sensitive to the needs of the transgender patient and aware of the current lack of reputable surgical resources, Dr. Rumer is now expanding her practice by providing consultation services in the Rehoboth Beach area and will shortly be providing a full array of transgender surgical services in the area as well.