PROVIDENCE – Open Door, the first dedicated LGBTQ health clinic in Rhode Island, will officially open its doors with a ribbon-cutting on Monday, March 2, at 7 Central St. in Providence, after more than a year of planning, licensing and fund-raising to get the new clinic off the ground.

The clinic will feature a number of innovative approaches, including express screening for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis C, according to Amy Nunn, the executive director of the R.I. Public Health Institute, which has shepherded the clinic.

Open Door Health will be a health care center that provides high-quality, culturally congruent health care to Rhode Island’s LGBTQ population. The work of Open Door Health is driven by the Institute’s approach to integrating efforts to advance community health, promote health equity, develop innovative programs and train the public health workforce.

The vision for Open Door Health is to improve the health and quality of life for members of Rhode Island’s LGBTQ population, which faces disparities in access to care and health outcomes.



In a brief interview, Nunn spoke about “the overwhelmingly positive feedback” the clinic has received from the community. Open Door Health, Nunn continued, has received support from the Rhode Island Foundation, the Champlin Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, and a grant from the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Secretary Womazetta Jones recently toured the new clinic and met with staff.

As part of the clinic’s operating protocols, patients can be walk-ins, get screened and leave, without having to see a provider, according to Nunn.

“Our idea is to create a new way of delivering services, trying to meet people where they are, offering express screening and culturally congruent care,” Nunn said.

“Everyone has been very positive,” she continued, saying that the state and philanthropies recognized that there are unmet needs for this community.