Support Prism Family Medicine's Vital Work

In July 2024, Idaho abandoned its gender expansive constiuents by removing all state funding for gender affirming hormone therapy and surgical care. In response to this, the clinic I had worked at for 5 years closed down their gender affirming care program. At the time, this was the only clinic in 113 miles to provide this service, with patients traveling from Wyoming and Montana to seek care.

I had considered leaving Idaho, but I could not stomach the idea of abandoning my patients the same way that Idaho had abandoned them. With the collaboration of my now office manager, Taylor Powell, RN, we built Prism Family Medicine. Our primary care clinic serves residents of Southeast Idaho, providing gender affirming hormone therapy, and aiming to make all members of the community feel safe and empowered to seek health care. We do not recieve government funding, but we care for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

We put this clinic together in 6 months, a true feat! In the four months since opening, we have established 270 patients from all walks of life. A fellow physican shared that it took him three years to build that number of patients in his panel. With just two of us and the support of our community members, we have built a beautiful clinic that hosts a budding free library, monthly Trans Affirming Group (TAG) support meetings, and a paperwork party to help people address important document updates. We also are working with other groups in the community to provide education in issues like reproductive health and immigration.

This has been incredible work. It's also not enough. We are not enough. I borrowed against my retirement to pay for the startup fees on this clinic and support myself and my family while the clinic got off its feet. That money got us here, but cannot take us any further. We need a receptionist. We are also planning to bring on Ryan Wolfley PA-C in June. He has extensive experience in psychiatric medication management, an area of high need in our community. Ryan can go anywhere with his knowledge, skills, and passion. He has chosen to come to Prism because he believes in our mission. With Ryan, we will also need to employ a medical assistant as Taylor will not be able to do this for both of us and manage administrative needs of the clinic.

$200,000 seems like a big ask. I'm hoping to raise enough funds to give this clinic the time it needs to grow and become self-sufficient. We have been slowly piecing together this clinic with donated eqiupment, auctions, and sheer force of will. We need more. We need the funding to pay for advertising and build our panel. We need an ECG machine and the ability to perform pulmonary function testing. We need more computers for the employees we are bringing into the fold. We need funding to pay our IT support who has already volunteered countless hours to ensure our clinic is safe from online threats. We need to pay me so that I have the capacity to focus on the clinic and community's needs.

If you are sitting at home or work or communting and scrolling through your phone, worrying about the state of our country, please know that there are people here who have not given up. We believe in a world where kindness and compassion leads, and we are building that world. Please donate to Prism Family Medicine and be part of bringing hope back to Idahoans.

For more information on Prism Family Medicine, please visit our website at: www.prismfamilymedicine.com or find us on facebook