Supporting LGBT Seniors: Spotlight on Arthur Fitting, VNSNY’s Program Manager for LGBT Outreach

Over his 28 years with VNSNY, Arthur Fitting has contributed his indomitable spirit to a remarkable array of clinical and administrative positions. In early April, he took on his latest challenge—Program Manager for VNSNY’s Senior LGBT Outreach Program. Funded by a New York Community Trust grant, the program is committed to supporting the health of LGBT seniors in the New York City area.

In his new role, Arthur will facilitate the LGBT Outreach Program’s collaborations with the growing number of community-based organizations that serve New York’s elderly LGBT population. The program will also educate organizations, providers, and patients about VNSNY’s LGBT-related initiatives, including SAGECare, which raises VNSNY clinicians’ awareness of cultural issues around sexual orientation and gender identification; VNSNY’s gender affirmation surgery program, which has provided post-surgical care for close to 100 patients since its launch in 2016; and other efforts to help eliminate barriers to care.

In addition, the Outreach Program will listen to LGBT seniors—gathering information about health care disparities that will help guide the design and focus of VNSNY’s offerings. Key issues include ensuring that patients transition home from acute care settings to a “safe space,” where they can concentrate on their well-being in a welcoming, non-judgmental environment. “I want this program to spread the word about VNSNY and create a bond of trust,” says Arthur, “so that each member of the LGBT community views us as the healthcare agency of choice—the go-to source to help them stay well and age safely in place.”

Nobody is more committed to fulfilling that goal than Arthur. He arrived at VNSNY in 1990, following six years as a nurse in the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of captain, and several years working as an inpatient nurse. Since then, he has served in a series of diverse assignments that have all combined to prepare him for his new job. In the early part of his VNSNY career, Arthur spent years providing clinical care to desperately ill AIDS patients as a visiting nurse, a home infusion nurse for HIV-positive individuals, and a clinician with the Lombardi “nursing home without walls” program, which later morphed into a long-term care solution for individuals with HIV/AIDS.

During that time, the mortality rate from AIDS was still extremely high. “Living through the AIDS epidemic and seeing patients and many close friends die has been a key motivating element for me,” says Arthur. “I really want to help prevent a situation like that from ever happening again, by helping to create an environment where LGBT seniors can get access to care.”

“I want our LGBT Outreach Program to spread the word about VNSNY and create a bond of trust,” says Arthur, “so that each member of the LGBT community views us as the healthcare agency of choice.”

One patient Arthur remembers especially well from that period is a young man who had experienced familial abuse as a child. When Arthur took on his care, the patient was struggling with substance-abuse problems, co-morbidities, and suicidal thoughts. “Over a ten-year span, treating him through several programs, I was so gratified to see him completely turn his life around, recognize his own value, and far exceed his life expectancy,” says Arthur. “He told me it was VNSNY and me caring about him that did it.”

Arthur is particularly proud of VNSNY’s role in pioneering public health programs that have served the LGBT population, including infusion care, congregate care, and the Lombardi program—all of which he was involved in during their developmental stages. “I’m like a surfer riding a wave,” he notes. “I’ve been able to support these innovative programs and see first-hand how VNSNY has been forward-thinking about taking care of patients with special needs.”

Most recently, Arthur has worked in a number of administrative roles, including RN Coordinator for VNSNY’s Assessment unit and as VNSNY Home Care’s liaison to the New York City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA). He also helped establish the Long-Term Survivors LGBT Wellness Group, a community organization dedicated to overcoming barriers to care for the LGBT population, and currently serves on VNSNY’s LGBT Advisory Committee. He’s studying for his master’s degree in nursing as well, taking advantage of his lengthy early-morning commute to Manhattan from the home he shares with his husband of ten months at the eastern tip of Long Island—where, in his off-hours, he pursues his loves of sailing, fishing, and gardening.

For Arthur, his new job represents one more way to contribute to the field that has given him so much.“When I knock on a patient’s door, I feel like hundreds of VNSNY staff are behind me, all of us sharing Lillian Wald’s mission and core values,” he says. “We learn and create value from each other’s experiences—that’s how we deliver such a high standard of care. I’ve learned so much from my colleagues. Now, I feel fortunate to be in a position to give something back.”