Devon Garcia

I am a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with a strong commitment to providing affirming, trauma-informed, patient-centered care for LGBTQ+ adolescents and adults. My clinical background includes primary care, urgent care, chronic disease management, preventive health, sexual health, and gender-affirming care. I have worked with patients across rural and underserved communities and understand how difficult it can be for LGBTQ+ patients, especially transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse individuals, to find healthcare that is both clinically competent and emotionally safe. My approach to LGBTQ+ healthcare is grounded in respect, shared decision-making, harm reduction, and meeting patients where they are. I believe patients deserve care that recognizes their whole personhood, including their identity, lived experience, family structure, safety concerns, goals, and barriers to access. I strive to create a clinical environment where patients do not have to educate their provider before receiving care. I provide LGBTQ+ inclusive primary care services, including preventive visits, acute care, chronic condition management, sexual health counseling, STI screening and treatment, PrEP counseling and management, contraception counseling, menstrual health support, medication management, mental health screening, and referrals when specialty care is needed. I also provide gender-affirming care for adolescents and adults, including evaluation and counseling for gender-affirming hormone therapy, ongoing hormone management, lab monitoring, education about expected changes and risks, fertility preservation counseling, puberty-related discussions when clinically appropriate, and coordination with families, therapists, schools, and other members of the care team when desired by the patient. A major focus of my work is improving access to care for LGBTQ+ patients in rural and smaller communities, where affirming services are often limited or nonexistent. Through Evergreen Ember Wellness, I am building a telehealth-forward model designed to reduce barriers such as travel distance, stigma, lack of local expertise, and fear of being mistreated in traditional healthcare settings. My goal is to offer a calm, respectful, and clinically sound option for patients who need primary care, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ health support without having to drive several hours or wait months for an appointment. In addition to clinical practice, I am a professor and preceptor for future healthcare professionals. Teaching has strengthened my commitment to evidence-based, inclusive care and to helping the next generation of clinicians understand the importance of language, cultural humility, consent, confidentiality, and affirming practice. My ongoing professional interests include LGBTQ+ primary care, transgender and gender-diverse adolescent health, adult gender-affirming hormone therapy, rural access to care, preventive medicine, sexual health, and reducing healthcare disparities for underserved populations. I regularly engage with evidence-based guidance from organizations such as WPATH, UCSF Transgender Care, the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC, USPSTF, and other trusted clinical resources to guide safe and affirming patient care. Above all, I want patients to know that they are welcome in my practice as they are. My role is not to judge, gatekeep, or make assumptions. My role is to listen carefully, provide honest education, discuss risks and benefits, support informed consent, and partner with patients and families in a way that protects dignity, autonomy, safety, and hope. Healthcare should feel like a lantern in the dark — steady, warm, and useful — not another locked gate.