MELBOURNE, Fla. – SPEKTRUM Health, which bills itself as the state’s largest remaining clinic focusing primarily on gender-affirming care, announced Tuesday that it will close its location in Melbourne.
The clinic, located at 1920 South Babcock Street, has served more than 4,000 patients since opening, according to a news release.
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It will close its doors at the end of the month. The company said they will consolidate their “healthcare and advocacy” efforts at their Orlando location.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 254 on May 17 – a law that limits medical gender-affirming treatments for Florida residents.
The release read in part that the legislation is “effectively crippling the clinic’s ability to care for its transgender patients who make up approximately 60% of the practice.”
The law blocks state funds from being used on someone’s transitional prescriptions or procedures, it prevents teens from starting new transitional treatments, and it gives sole power for writing new prescriptions to medical doctors, taking the power away from nurse practitioners.
“My patients are suffering, not just physically, but mentally as well, since Gov. DeSantis essentially made being transgender a crime,” said Joseph Knoll, Founder and CEO of SPEKTRUM Health. “Despite the hate being perpetrated by our state government, we will not stop fighting to protect the rights of transgender Floridians. The closure of our Melbourne office does not signify our surrender but our doubled‐down effort to restore our patients’ right to the quality gender-affirming healthcare they need and deserve.”
SPEKTRUM Health said it serves about 3,500 patients between its Orlando and Melbourne locations, as well as patients in 26 states via telehealth.
The company said it will continue to serve its Brevard County patients at its Orlando location on South Orange Avenue.
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