Transgender Health Services & Support

Community Announcements

Please contact Ted Heck, Transgender Health Services Coordinator, at (804) 864-8012 or ted.heck@vdh.virginia.gov to have your events related to transgender health listed here.

The VDH brochure originally titled Transgender Health Risk Assessment: A Clinician's Guide has been revised and has a new name and new look! The new title is Gender Diverse Patients Health Risk Assessment: A Clinician's Guide. While we are waiting for funds to print the new version, it is available for anyone to download and print onto legal-size paper here. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see a picture of the front of the new brochure design.

The new transgender health survey, titled This Great New Community Survey (TGNC Survey), launched in fall of 2018.

The TGNC survey has now completed data collection as of March 31, 2023.

Once a report on the survey results is available, it will be posted here. Please check back!

About Transgender Health Services at the Virginia Department of Health

The Virginia Community HIV Planning Group (CHPG) identified transgender persons in Virginia as a population at risk for HIV and other health concerns in 2003. To better understand the health related needs of transgender persons, focus was turned to conducting research, increasing understanding and knowledge of transgender communities in Virginia, and developing transgender sensitive and specific HIV interventions and health care. From this, the Transgender Health Initiative was born with leadership from the Transgender Task Force (comprised of CHPG members, transgender persons, community members, and researchers). The Task Force was laid down once its work was complete, but many of the efforts begun by that group continue today to support trans communities in Virginia.

The Virginia Department of Health continues to support these activities:

  1. Inform effective training to promote culturally competent health care to the transgender communities;
  2. Maintain a statewide resource guide to facilitate increased access to care for Transgender individuals;
  3. Develop and implement HIV interventions to the transgender community.

Virginia Transgender Resource & Referral List

A statewide list of trans-friendly service providers.  Updated regularly!  Click TransRRList to download this PDF document.

Please note:

The Virginia Transgender Resource & Referral List (“the List”) is intended as an informational resource only.  Providers included here have not been endorsed, certified, or vetted by the Virginia Department of Health beyond fulfilling the requirement to complete and send in the Transgender Resource and Referral List Information Form.  VDH can make no guarantees about providers listed here.  VDH contacts all entities included on the List annually to check that each organization’s information is accurate and up to date, but cannot guarantee accuracy throughout the year.

Further, websites and other materials developed or produced by these providers are solely the responsibility of those entities.  VDH cannot censor external sites’ content, so it is possible that some individuals who choose to browse an outside website may encounter materials or information that they consider offensive or inappropriate.  If you have questions or comments about content on a provider’s website, please contact the provider directly to address your concerns.

VDH keeps a non-public list of resources known to the transgender community which have not been listed here. If you need resources that are not included here, you are encouraged to contact Ted Heck at ted.heck@vdh.virginia.gov or 804-864-1056.

If you are a service provider who is interested in being added to the Virginia Transgender Resource & Referral List, you can fill out this form and send it in via the fax number or email address found on the form.

Virginia Transgender Health Initiative Study (THIS)

Started in 2003, THIS was the first major project of the Virginia Transgender Task Force.  The research was conducted in two phases. Phase I was a series of focus groups conducted in various locations around the state.  The findings of this effort are described in the Transgender Health Access in Virginia: Focus Group Report. This report is available upon request, via email to Ted Heck at ted.heck@vdh.virginia.gov by calling 804-864-8012.

The results of the Focus Group Report guided Phase II of THIS, the development of a statewide survey on the health care and health needs of transgender persons in Virginia. The survey particularly focused on HIV status and access to care and prevention services, but also included areas of associated risk, including housing and employment status, experiences of violence, sexual abuse, and discrimination in housing and employment. Also covered were participants’ experiences with general health care providers and access to health care services and health insurance. The results of the survey are described in the statewide survey report titled, The Health, Health-Related Needs, and Lifecourse Experiences of Transgender Virginians, published in early 2007. This report is available upon request, via email to Ted Heck at ted.heck@vdh.virginia.gov by calling 804-864-8012.

In 2017, DDP began the process of developing a new statewide study. The initial pilot began in fall of 2018 in the Richmond and Charlottesville areas, and now the final version has gone live, as of April 2021! The current study will update and expand upon the knowledge gained from the previous survey. As this effort moves forward, updates will be posted in the Community Announcements section above. Please check back to learn more.

Gender Diverse Patients Health Risk Assessment: A Clinician’s Guide

Image of front cover of brochure with title, "GENDER DIVERSE PATIENTS Health Risk Assessment: A Clinician's Guide", plus images of nine people with diverse genders and ethnicities. The Guide has been available since August of 2006, mainly through distribution at relevant events, service providers’ offices, and by ordering through the VDH Disease Prevention Hotline.  It contains the following sections: Why Focus on Transgender Health?, Psychosocial Issues, General Questions to Provide Quality Healthcare, Assessing Sexual and Other HIV Risks, a brief glossary of terms, and Resources. A PDF of the brochure can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the image to the left.

Last Updated: December 27, 2023.