New Dauphin County clinic offers hormone therapy, fights ‘stigma around men’

A new business in Lower Paxton Township is looking to help treat men’s health issues.

Gameday Men’s Health might sound like some kind of gym, but the new franchise location in Harrisburg instead offers testosterone replacement therapy, vitamin therapy, and treatments for such issues as weight loss, erectile dysfunction and sexual health.

“The goal is really to help guys feel better, live healthier and live longer,” said franchise owner Frank Lentini.

According to Lentini, as many as one in four men on average has low testosterone levels, which can lead to a range of issues, from low libido and lethargy to hair loss and weight gain.

“This really isn’t a service for the 18 or 20 year olds,” Lentini said. “It’s really for guys getting into their 30s. Maybe you don’t have the energy, the motivation you used to, you’re feeling a little down.”

Lentini said that he became interested in owning a franchise after he began experiencing midday fatigue as he entered his 50s.

“You’re seeing all these symptoms, and it’s really hard to relate it to,” he said. “What is going on? Is it just getting old? Do I need to go on an antidepressant? What’s wrong?”

Gameday offers blood testing for testosterone levels, with reservations made online, and results from clinicians — and potentially treatments — starting that day.

The wait for results is done in a “man-cave” type of waiting room, Lentini joked, where “you can have a snack and a drink, and we have ESPN running, music on.”

“And then our medical assistant will take you in the back and into a room and do a blood draw,” he said. “What makes us unique is that we do send your labs out, but we can test it right there for the testosterone and and your PSA [prostate-specific antigen] as well.”

The Gameday staff includes a medical director overseeing the practice, as well as a physician’s assistant serving as clinical director, medical assistants and a registered nurse.

“We have a great team here,” Lentini said. “What we’re finding is, once [patients] come in and they feel like they can be open, they talk about things that they probably maybe not even talk to their primary care physician about.”

In conjunction with visits from a primary care doctor, these hormone treatments and screenings can help with issues such as screenings for prostate cancer and heart health.

“We do work together,” Lentini said. “When you come here, you have that doctor-patient experience. If [our clinician] sees that something doesn’t look right, we’ve referred many patients back to their primary care physician, or even a urologist, to get those things checked out.”

Part of the difficulty of treating such conditions, Lentini said, is “a stigma around men talking about not feeling well.”

“We set out to make a comfortable environment for men to come in and talk about their issues,” he said.