WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW HIM: An internist and pediatrician for MetroHealth Medical Center, Ng is clinical director of the Pride Clinic, which he co-founded in 2007. The LGBT-friendly clinic is open every Wednesday night at the McCafferty Health Center in Ohio City. Ng is also board president of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality, a national organization of medical professionals.
THE POWER OF WORDS: Born in Hong Kong, Ng knows four languages: Cantonese (his native tongue), English, Spanish and American Sign Language. "Patients quickly find out — if you have a skill that you can provide to them, they will come to you," he says. "As a resident, I started getting gay and lesbian patients, but I got a whole lot of Spanish-speaking patients."
THE POWER OF LISTENING: Many patients come to the Pride Clinic because they felt their concerns weren't being heard by other health care providers. "We listen," says Ng, who came out as gay in college. "We provide them a place where they feel they can be themselves, they aren't judged, they don't have to be afraid."
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT: Ng is proud that MetroHealth welcomes LGBT and Spanish-speaking patients. "This organization has a track record of trying to meet communities where they are, meet their needs and think about this from a cultural perspective," he says.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: Early in the Pride Clinic's work, colleague Douglas Van Auken pushed Ng
to learn how to provide hormone therapy to
transgender people — care he knew little about — rather than always referring them to endocrinologists. "He challenged me to push my boundaries, to go beyond where I was comfortable for the sake of my patients," Ng says.
SPORTS FAN: "I want to see the opening and closing ceremonies," says Ng, who's asked for the week off. "I'd like to see diving. I'd like to see competitive swimming, because I have many friends who are in that." He'll also be part of two medical conferences, the Conference on Current Issues in Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Health Research Aug. 7-9 at Baldwin Wallace University, and Treating the LGBT Athlete and Patient hosted by the Cleveland Clinic Aug. 8.
