CHKD is latest Va. system to halt gender-affirming treatment for minors

Days after UVA Health and VCU Health suspended all gender-affirming medical treatments for people under age 19, Norfolk-based Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters has followed suit, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

In a statement, CHKD noted that it has never offered surgical treatments to patients.

“With the utmost concern for our patients and our caring team of pediatric professionals, CHKD has determined that we must suspend medical treatments associated with gender-affirming care to be in compliance with the White House executive order of Jan. 28. This means that we must suspend the prescribing of hormone therapy and puberty blockers specifically for gender-affirming care. Our determination is consistent with actions taken recently by our colleagues at UVA, VCU and other hospitals across the nation.

“CHKD will remain vigilant in monitoring guidance related to this executive order and will be prepared to adapt rapidly if the situation changes,” the statement said.

To respond to patients whose treatment has been suspended, CHKD said in its statement, “our team is expediting access to appointments with physicians and with our mental health team to offer guidance, consultation and mental health services. We are wholeheartedly committed to the dignity of our patients and to the sacred trust they place in CHKD and our team of devoted physicians and clinicians.”

Unlike the two university-affiliated systems, CHKD did not receive a letter from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who last week sent a memo to UVA Health and VCU Health, informing the health systems that they must stop providing treatments to minors seeking puberty blockers, hormone treatments or surgical procedures.

In the memo from Miyares titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” the Republican attorney general referred to President Donald Trump’s executive order issued Jan. 28 by the same name.

CHKD’s announcement comes as many health care systems — both public and private — consider halting gender-affirming treatments for minors, even though under Virginia law, minor patients must have their parents’ or guardians’ permission to seek such treatments.

Del. Rodney Willett, a Democratic delegate representing Henrico County who serves on VCU Health’s board of directors, said Tuesday in an interview that health systems rely heavily on federal funding, which they could lose if they don’t comply with the White House’s executive order.

Miyares said in his memo that “any hospital or other institution … is at risk of losing” federal research or education grants, and “may involve Medicare or Medicaid conditions of participation/coverage.”

CHKD’s website notes that Medicaid covers approximately 55% of its inpatient days, “the highest percentage by far of any acute care hospital in Virginia.” Also, CHKD “has a large annual shortfall between the costs we incur caring for Medicaid patients and the reimbursements we receive from Medicaid,” including $33 million in fiscal 2022.

Willett, who blasted Trump’s executive order as “inhumane,” said VCU Health’s leaders’ “hands were tied. It was a devil’s choice. You’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t.”

If VCU lost federal funding, “hundreds of thousands of patients” would be impacted, he said, “as it is for UVA Health.”

Private health care systems also will likely be impacted, Willett added.

On Tuesday, Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic said its status had not changed from last week, when it released this statement: “We are reviewing the latest federal directive to determine potential next steps and deliver care in compliance with regulations. We will share more with our patients and their families as this evolves.”

Bon Secours and Inova Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Sentara Health said last week it “does not have a gender reassignment program for minors.”

Federal lawsuit

On Tuesday, a group of transgender youth, young adults and family members joined the ACLU, GLMA and PFLAG in a federal lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order ending access to gender-affirming medical care for people under age 19. One 17-year-old plaintiff, Willow, lives in Richmond; her last name was not included in the lawsuit or news release to protect her privacy.

In a statement, Willow’s mother, Kristen Chapman, said they moved to Virginia in 2023 after the legislature in Tennessee, where they lived before, passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors.

“We moved to Virginia in the summer of 2023, but struggled to find a provider that would accept our Medicaid insurance. As paying for her care out-of-pocket became prohibitively expensive, I tried for months to get an appointment at VCU, and I finally got an appointment for Jan. 29, 2025,” Chapman said. “The day before our appointment, President Trump signed the executive order at issue in this case. The next day, just a few hours before our appointment, VCU told us they would not be able to provide Willow with care. I thought Virginia would be a safe place for me and my daughter. Instead, I am heartbroken, tired and scared.”

According to the legal complaint, VCU Health informed Willow that her appointment was canceled.

The lawsuit says that VCU and its Children’s Hospital of Richmond received nearly $7.3 million in federal grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and nearly $107 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal 2023, and UVA Health received more than $200 million in grants from NIH in fiscal 2023.