LGBQ+ Veteran Care
The VA Butler Healthcare System seeks to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of LGBQ+ Veterans and their Families. We are committed to making sensitive and high quality health care accessible. Our policies and practices focus on ensuring a safe, welcoming, and affirmative environment of care for LGBQ+ Veterans. Our employees receive training in clinically competent care that is responsive to the unique needs of LGBQ+ Veterans.
Connect with a care coordinator
Care we provide at VA Butler
Our LGBQ+ Veteran care coordinators can answer your questions, advocate for your right to quality care, handle complaints or concerns you have about your care, and help you get started with any of our services for LGBQ+ Veterans. These include:
- Mental health services, including psychosocial assessments for hormone therapy and sex confirming surgeries
- Creative arts therapies
- Hormone therapy
- Sex-affirming prosthetics
- HIV and STI testing, counseling, and care, including PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for Veterans at risk for HIV
- Other prevention, screening, wellness, and testing services
Policies and practices to know
The care coordinator can help you get started with care or with navigating any of these issues.
Visitation: A same-sex partner, family member, friend, or other individual can be present with the patient for emotional support during the course of the patient's stay.
Definition of family: "Family" may include individual(s) not legally related to the individual. Family members include spouses, domestic partners, different-sex and same-sex significant others.
Advance directives: Veterans may designate any person as a decision-maker for care if they won't be able to make these decisions themselves. This includes same-sex partners. Advance directive agents are chosen by the Veteran and do not need to be biologically related.
Documentation in medical records: VA Butler maintains the confidentiality of information about sexual orientation, and sexual behavior, just like any other private health information.