VCU to end gender-affirming youth medical care

VCU Health announced this week that it would stop providing gender-affirming medical care at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU for patients under age 19 three months from now.

According to a July 29 statement posted on the hospital’s website, the decision came after “much consideration and based upon current understanding of federal and state directives.”

This marks a change from the health system’s decision earlier this year to halt all surgical procedures for transgender teens while continuing to provide medical care and counseling. Tuesday’s decision will mean that patients will no longer be able to obtain prescribed medications through VCU Health, although counseling services are to continue.

According to state Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, a board member of the VCU Health System Authority, the board did not vote to change VCU’s policy but was informed of the decision by the health system Tuesday.

Since receiving guidance from the governor’s office in mid-February, “VCU has not received any direct correspondence from the state or federal government, but rather, they have been monitoring national trends, including letters sent by the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] to other children’s hospitals, as well as subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice,” Willett said.

He added that potential loss of federal funding for health care research as well as the possibility for physicians to be prosecuted for providing gender-affirming care to minors were factors in the decision.

Willett said that he and many of his fellow VCU Health board members are “distraught over this attack on health care from the Trump administration. Families should be able to make health care decisions in consultation with their doctors.”

He added that no health care personnel are expected to lose their jobs with the change in policy. “They’re all still there,” Willett said. “Doctors are upset. It’s hard when health care is denied.”

A VCU Health spokesperson referred to the public statement when asked which executives made the decision and what prompted it.

Over the next 90 days, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU will “provide support and assist with safe transfer of care for existing patients, considering each youth’s needs with compassion and clinical judgement,” the public statement says.

Shortly after taking office in January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning institutions receiving federal funding from providing surgical and medical gender-affirming care for patients under age 19. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an opinion in January advising the two university-affiliated health systems to suspend treatments for teens, even with their parents’ permission, which is required for minors.

After receiving Miyares’ directive, UVA Health and VCU Health suspended all medication and surgical procedures in January, but in February both health systems resumed care for all existing patients but referred prospective new patients to private providers. Virginia LGBTQ+ organizations noted that many of VCU’s and UVA Health’s transgender youth patients rely on Medicaid for health care coverage, which many private doctors do not accept.

Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters also halted gender-affirming treatment in January and did not resume it when VCU and UVA Health did in February. As of Thursday, UVA Health is still offering some gender-affirming care to youth, including medication and counseling but not surgical procedures.