The Center for Women with Disabilities at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Making Compassionate, Accessible Care Routine

The Center for Women with Disabilities at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital celebrated its 25th anniversary in March 2026 – making it one of the longest-running specialty gynecology programs in the United States designed specifically for women with disabilities. Founded in 2001 with direct input from the patient community it serves, the Center remains one of only about six such programs in the United States.

John A. Harris, MD, MSc, assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has directed the center since 2018. Jennifer Stephens, RN, nurse coordinator and educator for the Center joined 2016. The Center’s clinic runs every Friday and draws patients from across western Pennsylvania and beyond.

"We have patients who travel up to six hours to see us because we are one of the only accessible locations," Stephens says. "That tells you something about how significant the gap still is in providing care for this patient population."

Why Routine Gynecological Care Can Remain Out of Reach for Women with Disabilities

Women with disabilities are significantly less likely to receive routine preventive gynecological care than the general population, and the clinical consequences of that dynamic can be profound. Screening gaps can mean that cancers or other conditions are diagnosed later, at more advanced stages, when treatment options can be much more difficult or less effective. Delays in screening can lead to later diagnoses, which can mean more intensive treatment, avoidable complications, and, in some cases, preventable deaths.

"The kinds of things we find through routine screening absolutely can change the course of a person's life," Ms. Stephens says. "There are conditions we locate through this care that would have gone undiagnosed. It impacts not only quality of life but length of life."

The barriers to routine gynecologic care for women with disabilities are both structural and attitudinal. Standard exam tables are too high for patients who cannot transfer independently. Exam rooms can be too narrow for wheelchair access. Standard mammography equipment assumes a patient can stand on their own and follow necessary commands.

Furthermore, many health care providers have had little or no training in how to conduct a gynecological exam on a patient with spasticity, limited range of motion, or a cognitive disability that makes a complex clinical encounter and discussion more challenging to navigate.

"Compared to listening to someone's heart and lungs, there is just no option for the specialized reproductive exam if the environment isn't built for it," Dr. Harris says. "For two to four percent of the population, the barriers are significant enough that this care simply doesn't happen sometimes, and that is tragic on many levels."

The Founding Influence of Sandra Welner, MD

The Center's founding traces back to the work of Sandra Welner, MD. Dr. Welner was an obstetrics and gynecology physician, pioneer, and advocate for accessible health care for women with disabilities who herself lived with a disability and recognized that women in similar situations had nowhere adequate to go for gynecologic care. Dr. Welner worked directly with Pittsburgh's community of women with disabilities to design the Center, ensuring that the people who would use it shaped what it would look like and how it would operate from the start. Among her many accomplishments during her medical career, Dr. Welner also designed a specialized exam table – known as the Welner table – that can accommodate the needs of women with disabilities, and she also authored a textbook on the subject that continues to be a valuable teaching asset to this day. Dr. Welner died in 2001, the same year the Center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital opened. Some of the women involved in its founding remain patients of the Center today.

"We are carrying on the legacy of a remarkable person," Dr. Harris says. "That's not something we take lightly."

A Broad and Underserved Patient Population

Roughly 30% of patients seen at the center have mobility disabilities, including spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and multiple sclerosis. The center also serves women with intellectual disabilities, including Down syndrome, and women with complex neurodevelopmental conditions. It sees patients with lifelong disabilities alongside patients with more temporary disabilities, like those recovering from surgery, injury, or serious illness who find that a health care system they previously navigated without difficulty has become inaccessible.

"We see people who have lived with a condition their entire lives, and we also see people who are passing through a disability," Stephens says. "A disability can happen to anyone, which is another reason this kind of care should be universal."

The Center's equipment reflects what standard offices typically lack, including adjustable-height exam tables, a patient lift for wheelchair transfers, accessible scales, padded hydraulic stirrups for patients with leg spasms or limited lower extremity control, and exam rooms wide enough to accommodate mobility devices. The full range of women's health services is available, from preventive care and cervical cancer screening to family planning, prenatal care, and preconception counseling.

Because many patients travel significant distances, the Center coordinates imaging and other appointments around each visit when possible, consolidating care to make the most of the visit for the patient.

The specialized equipment that the Center uses makes the work possible, but it is not the most important factor in patient care.

"The patient comes as they are," Stephens says. "We are the ones making the accommodations. We do the changing, not them."

Extended appointment times are standard for patients who need more time to communicate or become comfortable in a clinical setting. For patients with intellectual disabilities or autism, the most important accommodation is often simply more time in the exam room and a recognition that the communication dynamic has to fit the patient’s needs.

"The basic accommodation for anyone with a cognitive or intellectual disability is time," Dr. Harris says. "Listening time. Not pushing the visit too fast. New circumstances are uncomfortable for everybody, but they are especially difficult for these patients. Slowing down helps a great deal."

Training the Next Generation and Helping Others Replicate the Model

Understanding the specific care needs of individuals living with disabilities typically receives minimal attention in most medical and nursing education. However, at the Center for Women with Disabilities at UPMC

Magee Womens Hospital, medical students on women's health rotations can elect to follow Ms. Stephens through clinic days, nursing students rotate through regularly, and University of Pittsburgh Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences residents receive instruction that includes disability-related care.

"We would love care to be really good everywhere," Dr. Harris says. "As an issue of equity, all women with disabilities should get good care as close to where they normally get care as possible, as opposed to only in a specialty center like ours. The type of care and services we are able to provide should be universally accessible."

The Center regularly helps other institutions to learn more about their work and develop similar programs.

"We want to give this information away freely," Stephens says. "We have a regular exam room, the right equipment, and above everything else, a care team that is committed to this work. None of those things are out of reach for most places. So much of what we do comes down to the attitude of the care team. That is the most important component."

25 Years of Providing Accessible, Patient-Centric Care for Women with Disabilities

During the last 25 years, the Center for Women with Disabilities at UPMC Magee Womens Hospital has served thousands of patients, many returning year after year. Patients who trust their providers keep appointments, follow through on screening, and engage more fully in their own health care. These kinds of longitudinal relationships that develop over time are clinically meaningful.

"Once patients are with us, they are with us for their lifetime," Stephens says. "There is a real relationship that gets built when it rests on a foundation of accessibility, understanding, and trust."

Patient Referrals and Contact Information

To learn more about the Center for Women with Disabilities at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, or to refer a patient, call 412-641-4455.