New Dallas clinic partners with Walgreens to offer free services for LGBTQ+ community

DALLAS - A new clinic in Dallas is offering free services to the LGTBQ+ community.

The program is offered inside a Walgreens in Oak Lawn.

This is a significant partnership. 

The Kind Clinic began offering free STD and HIV testing to the Dallas community in early 2022. But now, they've expanded their services to include HIV treatment, prevention and gender-affirming care.

Tucked away in the back of a Walgreens in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas is the Kind Clinic.

"Really putting the clinic inside of a Walgreens, we felt really helped to take the attention off of the type of clinic that it is," said clinic administrator Michael Carrillo.

Kind Clinic is a program of Texas Health Action and offers free sexual health services to the LGBTQ+ community.

"Together, I think they're going to form an unbeatable team in providing necessary health services to the citizens of Dallas," said Councilman Paul Ridley.

It's the clinic's first partnership with a Walgreens in North Texas.

"This particular location exists in a nod in the community that has a significant risk for the conditions that we prevent and treat," said Kind Clinic Dallas Medical Director Steve Klemow.

The Walgreens is located at the intersection of Cedars Springs and Oak Lawn.

The Kind Clinic offers HIV testing, treatment and prevention through PrEP.

"It's a medication that patients who are at risk of getting HIV can take on a daily basis to prevent them from getting HIV," Dr. Klemow said.

The clinic also has a nurse practitioner, nurse, medical assistant and support staff, which includes outreach advocates who will go out into the Oak Lawn neighborhood and provide free STD testing and education.

"We're finding that folks kind of seek their services in this area," Carrillo said.

The Kind Clinic also provides gender-affirming care.

It comes at a pivotal time when transgender treatments and therapies are being challenged in court and scrutinized by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature and governor.

"Our goal is to be able to provide free services to patients that live in our community that have underserved needs," Dr. Klemow said.

Texas Health Action, a 501-C-3 nonprofit, gets funding through a combination of grants and donations. Those funds are then used to run the clinic, keeping services free.

"There is a need for it out there, and we want to make sure that everyone is acknowledged and appreciated no matter what," Carrillo said.

Kind Clinic does have several locations in San Antonio and Austin. The goal is to open additional clinics in North Texas as the need arises.