Callen-Lorde Community Health Center has transformed its Bronx clinic from a cramped outpost into a 17,000-square-foot hub, five times larger than before, with 16 behavioral health rooms, 10 medical exam rooms, a pharmacy, and an on-site lab offering rapid-access testing. The renovated and expanded space at 555 Bergen Ave. in Mott Haven, on the fourth floor near the Third Avenue-149th Street 2/5 subway station, replaces a facility that had just one behavioral health room, four exam rooms, and one injection room when it first opened in 2016.
The scale of the change is striking given where the clinic started. According to Gay City News, the old Bronx location previously served just 270 behavioral health patients with a smaller pharmacy, limited lab space, and cramped offices, per Callen-Lorde. The organization now plans to serve more than 1,500 behavioral health patients over the next three years, and the expanded medical side will have capacity for 14,000 patients annually.
A Response to a Documented Care Gap
Health Center Director Yadiro Solano said the new location will help address healthcare disparities in the Bronx, where providers are available at less than one-quarter the rate found in Manhattan per resident, according to New York State health data cited in the same report. That shortage highlights the need for accessible healthcare in the area.
Callen-Lorde CEO Patrick McGovern said the renovated clinic can now reach more people who deserve accessible, culturally informed healthcare, adding that research shows culturally competent care improves health outcomes and quality of life. The Bronx team includes staff with roots in the borough and English-Spanish bilingual skills, the health center says, a detail meant to reflect the community it serves.
Building Out HIV Prevention and Treatment
The expanded Bronx facility will serve as a sexual health, HIV treatment, and prevention hub, according to Chief Medical Officer Demetre Daskalakis. It will offer long-acting injectable medications and multiple HIV prevention options so patients can choose based on individual needs, with the new rapid-access lab designed to speed up results compared with typical HIV screening. Callen-Lorde offers HIV prevention care to everyone, including people who are not primary care patients there, and patients across its network can schedule same-day or next-day appointments when available, along with first-come, first-served quick-care walk-in visits.
That expansion lands against a backdrop of rising HIV diagnoses citywide. New HIV diagnoses in New York City climbed 5.4% in 2024 to 1,791 cases, according to the NYC Health Department, which noted four consecutive years of stagnant or rising diagnoses citywide.
Gender-Affirming Care Amid Shifting Politics
Callen-Lorde continues to deliver gender-affirming care for youth using private, non-federal dollars, per prior reporting, even as NYU Langone and Mount Sinai ended youth gender-affirming care amid pressure from the Trump administration. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene plans to allocate $9 million to nonprofit providers for youth gender-affirming care, and Callen-Lorde is one of two providers that may benefit from that funding.
New York's legal landscape has also shifted to protect providers like Callen-Lorde. In June 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation designating New York a shield state for gender-affirming care, protecting both providers and out-of-state patients from legal enforcement and subpoenas tied to care received in-state, according to the American Bar Association. That protection sits alongside a broader push by New York officials; Hoodline previously reported that Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition urging the American Medical Association to protect reproductive and gender-affirming care providers from restrictive out-of-state laws.
Funding Pressures Behind the Scale-Up
The expansion also comes as community health centers like Callen-Lorde navigate real financial strain. In 2023, Callen-Lorde stood to lose roughly $10 million because of New York State's Medicaid 340B prescription drug carve-out policy, which redirected drug discount savings away from safety-net clinics, according to NYS Focus. Those discount programs have traditionally helped subsidize uncompensated care for uninsured patients, a population that makes up a significant share of Callen-Lorde's base.
Callen-Lorde serves patients regardless of ability to pay, and operates locations beyond the Bronx in Manhattan at 356 W. 18th St. in Chelsea and in Brooklyn at 40 Flatbush Ave. Ext., 3rd floor, in Downtown Brooklyn.
