Dr. Christopher Awwad, Medical Director of the LGBTQ+ Health & Wellness Center at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, New Jersey, has been recognized as a 2024 Castle Connolly Top LGBTQ+ Doctor. He will be featured in the Top LGBTQ+ Doctors directory which allows patients to easily find top rated physicians.
“I am honored to be selected as one of the Top LGBTQ+ Doctors by Castle Connolly because it is a reflection of the incredible things our Center has achieved in just the last year alone,” said Dr. Awwad.
“Our team has been working to shape the way that healthcare is provided to LBGTQ patients, delivering high quality, culturally competent care. The Center is led by members of the community who not only have extensive professional experience in LGBTQ+ health management but also lived experiences of accessing gender-affirming care and other LGBTQ+ health services,” he added.
Dr. Awwad became the medical director of the hospital’s LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness Center in April 2023. He has extensive experience in family medicine and specializes in comprehensive care for the LGBTQ+ community including gender-affirming care, HIV prevention, sexual health, and primary care.
The Center was recently awarded a New Jersey Safety Net Innovation Program (NJ SNIP) grant which provided $300,000 in funding from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation over two years. The grant will help expand wraparound services like patient navigation, assessment of social determinants of health, and referral services.
Under his leadership, the Center has had over 1,000 patient visits in the last year and has expanded its offerings for both HIV and STI prevention with injectable PrEP medication and the prescribing of DoxyPEP. Additionally, he along with Finn Schubert, Program Director, have embedded mental health services within the program with individual therapy now available to patients.
About 50% of the Center’s patients identify as transgender or nonbinary—one of the most vulnerable segments of the LGBTQ+ community. Spanish is the primary language of 12% of patients, and thanks to the Center’s largely bilingual team, they can speak directly to patients in their native language.
“We are an important healthcare resource for the LGBTQ+ community because they know they will receive quality, respectful, equitable, and compassionate care,” said Deborah Visconi, President & CEO, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center. “Dr. Awwad has helped us to further develop a healthcare experience where the LGBTQ+ community feels safe, welcomed, and does not fear stigma as we address their physical health needs as well as mental health.”
Awwad received his medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – Bradenton in 2013 and completed his family medicine residency training at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health. He will develop medical education and community outreach for the Medical Center to better serve its patients by providing equitable access to high-quality, patient-centered care.
Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, a clinical affiliate of Rutgers, is a 1,070-bed hospital located at 230 East Ridgewood Ave. The Medical Center is both the largest hospital and licensed nursing home in NJ and the fourth largest, publicly owned hospital in the nation.
It is a not-for-profit safety net facility, provides high-quality comprehensive services, including acute and ambulatory care, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, long-term care, 24/7 emergency department, surgical suites, physical rehabilitation, pharmacy, laboratory, radiologic services (including digital mammography). The Medical Center also has satellite offices in Bergenfield, Englewood, and Paterson. Primary care and other health and wellness services are available at the hospital’s CareRite Now centers located in select Inserra Supermarkets in Bergen County.
Bergen New Bridge is in network with all major New Jersey commercial insurance plans covering 99.91% of NJ residents and is a Veterans Community Care Provider. It is also a Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). Learn more at www.newbridgehealth.org.