About us
History
In 2009, a group of healthcare providers from UC Davis came together to raise awareness about their patients who were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+). These patients felt unsafe coming out to doctors and nurses who didn’t know how to treat LGBTQ+ people – or worse, didn’t want to treat them. These providers rejected the notion that our patients should have to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area to access basic, culturally sensitive care.
This group later became the Vice Chancellor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, and spearheaded efforts to make UC Davis Medical Center the first academic health center to incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity data into its electronic medical record. Efforts have continued to increase training for staff and services for patients. As a result, UC Davis Medical Center has been designated a "Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign every year since 2011.
The Advisory Council hosted its first Improving OUTcomes conference in 2015 at the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento. The response from our local community was outstanding. Over the course of two days, the conference brought together physicians, researchers, community organizers, and students of all disciplines to increase their understanding of LGBTQ+ healthcare.
The Vice Chancellor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, continues to bring this conference to our internal and external community members annually.
Mission
To bring together health care and allied service providers throughout the Sacramento region to improve health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) people and their families. We invite emerging leaders and established experts to a welcoming space to share innovative ideas, teach critical leadership skills, and form new networks with other agents of change.
Vision
This annual conference strives to bring together health care providers from the Greater Sacramento area and beyond to build transformational leadership and community with the common goal of culturally competent care for all LGBTQ+ people.
Objectives
- Understand the basic medical needs of LGBTQ+ patients, especially those who identify as transgender and/or gender-nonconforming.
- Identify steps to educate and counsel colleagues and administrators on LGBTQ+ cultural competency to embed system wide progress toward more LGBTQ+ welcoming health care institutions.
- Increase providers’ awareness of and adherence to LGBTQ+ affirming policies and practices at UC Davis Health and beyond.
Conference Chairs
Antionette “Annie” J. Caruso, Chair
Michelle Famula, Chair
Committee Members
Bradley P. Ander
Edward Callahan
Chao-Yin Chen
Ceasor Dennis
Marijo Gillen
Megan N. Ober
Corey Owens
Jude Patton
Conference Coordinators
Sarah Iv
Rebecca Jorrin