LGBTQ+ Veteran care
VA staff can support the health, welfare and dignity of you and your family.
Care we provide at VA Madison health care
Our staff can answer your questions, advocate for your right to quality care, handle complaints or concerns you have about your care and help you get started with any of our services for LGBQ+ Veterans. Available resources include:
- Mental health services
- Creative art therapy
- Hormone therapy for Veterans who initiated treatments via VA or DOD prior to March 2025
- Substance use disorder treatment
- Tobacco use treatment
- Treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted infections PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for Veterans at risk for HIV
- Intimate partner violence reduction and treatment
- Military sexual trauma screening and treatment
- Suicide prevention services; if you are in crisis, call the 24-hour Crisis Hotline at 988 (option 1) or visit the Veterans Crisis Line
- Primary care and preventative health screenings
Advance directives
Veterans may designate any person as a decision-maker for care if they aren’t able to make these decisions themselves. This includes same-sex partners.
Documentation in medical records
Madison VA maintains confidentiality of information regarding sexual orientation, just like any other private health information. You can request that this information not be entered into your medical record.
Sexual Orientation Annual Reminder: Asking about sexual orientation is part of a routine health assessment. Discuss with a provider to update this field.
Birth Sex Field and Legal Name: Contact the privacy officer at
Preferred Name: You can update your preferred name in your medical record which will appear in parenthesis by your legal name [example: John (Jo) Smith]. Updating your preferred name does not require documentation. Contact your provider and request that your record be updated.
Definition of family
“Family” may include individual(s) not legally related to the individual. Family members include spouses, domestic partners and different-sex and same-sex significant others.
Visitation
A same-sex partner, family member, friend, or other individual can be present with the patient for emotional support during the course of the patient’s stay.