Identity Clinic to Close After Decades of Healthcare

by sdmn

Anchorage’s Identity Clinic will shut down in May after financial strain,
​guiding patients through a short transition period.

Anchorage’s Identity Health Clinic, a longtime provider of LGBTQIA2S+ care, closed  its doors in May, ending nearly five decades of community-rooted service. Identity, Inc. announced April 14 that it was shutting down its clinic, halt plans to expand to Spokane, Washington, and cease operations. Founded in 1977 as the Alaskan Gay Community Center, the organization evolved alongside the needs of the community, later expanding into healthcare and, in 2021, merging with Full Spectrum Health to form Identity Health Clinic.

In a letter to patients and supporters, Executive Director Tom Pittman described the decision as a turning point shaped by both history and current constraints. He wrote that “this is not only the closure of an organization. It is the loss of a long-standing piece of community infrastructure that so many people helped build and sustain,” underscoring the clinic’s role beyond medical care.

Leadership pointed to several pressures behind the closure. Delays in Medicaid reimbursements left the clinic without roughly half of expected payments since December, creating an immediate cash flow crisis. Required investments tied to its lease became unfeasible after engineering assessments, leaving the organization needing to vacate. At the same time, concerns related to past insurance billing triggered a review that required sustained attention from a small team, further stretching capacity.

The organization also operated in a demanding environment for nonprofit healthcare providers serving underserved communities, a context that compounded existing operational challenges. Over time, these factors accumulated into a situation the Board of Directors determined could not be sustained.

Administrative support, including assistance connecting patients to new providers, remained available through May 15. Patients are encouraged to use the clinic’s portal to request medication refills, referrals, and medical records, allowing up to four business days for a response before following up.

Identity plans a short-term fundraising effort to support this transition, including $40,000 for its Health Equity Fund to ensure patient bills are not sent to collections, and $20,000 to support staff during the closure process.
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Pittman emphasized that the closure does not change the need for care or community, noting that “for decades, under different names and in different forms, this organization existed because our community made it exist,” and that “the need for this care has not gone away. The need for community has not gone away.” ​