PATIENTS AT HLTH IMPACT PROGRAM: Lessons from the front lines: LGBTQ+ Health Experiences

Ben Meents (he/him) is SVP Corporate Marketing and Brand with Optum, and serves as Executive Sponsor of UnitedHealth Group’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group Pride@UHG. He also sits on the organization’s LGBTQ+ Leadership Advisory Council, which supports and advances Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives as well as business commitments designed to close gaps in LGBTQ+ Health Experiences. He embraces and embodies commitment to the UHG mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone.Throughout his career Ben has been committed to driving people-first, consumer-obsessed team cultures, nurturing talent and helping people achieve their full potential. He is passionate about advancing health equity and DEI strategies within healthcare, meeting people where they are and serving the underserved and forgotten.Prior to joining Optum in 2015 Ben led media and analyst relations across U.S and Asia markets within the financial services division of Wolters Kluwer. He spent the early part of his career brand and experience building as a consultant for various Healthcare companies, and while at American Express, Ameriprise Financial and at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo, Japan.He is active in serving the recovery community and lives in Minnesota with his husband Chet, and their three kids Emma, Sophia and Dominic, and their dogs Mary Tyler Moore, a standard poodle, and Milton, a Bernie doodle. 

Dr. Nowaskie is a queer, nonbinary psychiatrist. Their personal identification and civic commitment have cultivated into a passion to help LGBTQ+ communities. They are the Founder and President of the national nonprofit LGBTQ+ health equity organization OutCare Health, which provides access to LGBTQ+ information, resources, programming, mentorship, education, training, research, and providers for millions across the country. A Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Southern California and Gold Humanism Honor Scholar of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Nowaskie’s clinical and philanthropic work has led to several national accolades, presentations, and publications as well as diversity awards from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, American Medical Association, Tylenol Future Care Foundation, Gamma Mu Foundation, Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and Out to Innovate. Their ultimate goal is to transform their might into a powerful unicorn of social and public health change for LGBTQ+ people.

Michelle Garrido, MD, is board certified in family medicine. Dr. Garrido earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. She completed her internship and residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Garrido became a physician because she was inspired by her family doctor during childhood. Her patients appreciate Dr. Garrido's medical knowledge and her good listening skills. Her biggest clinical interest is in LGBTQ+ health and equitable access to health care. She identifies as a lesbian and uses she/her pronouns. Dr. Garrido is most proud of her family and her pets. In her spare time, she enjoys exercising on her indoor bicycle. In addition to English, she speaks fluent Spanish.