UPMC ended trans care for kids, teens after letter from Dr. Oz seeking data

UPMC was among several hospitals that were sent a letter by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services before ending gender-affirming care for patients under 19.

The letter, dated May 28 and signed by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the agency’s administrator, warned of “significant issues concerning quality standards and specific procedures affecting children at your institution” and demanded information concerning hospital policies around gender-affirming care.

Under President Donald Trump, federal officials have pushed against gender-affirming care, particularly for minors.

LGBTQ+ advocates and Pittsburgh officials have criticized UPMC’s recent decision to halt such care for people younger than 19.

During a rally outside of UPMC’s Downtown headquarters last month, Dena Stanley, executive director of TransYOUniting, told supporters, “They’re using our babies as political pawns.” She was met with cries of “shame.”

At the same rally, Kaiah Scott, program coordinator with local LGBTQ advocacy organization QMNTY, said the gender-affirming care she received as a teenager allowed her to “begin to thrive” and feel confident in her own body.

Some elected officials, such as Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, have joined advocates in condemning UPMC’s decision to halt gender-affirming care for young people.

A group of UPMC workers have signed an open letter to the health network’s leadership, raising alarms that the lack of gender-affirming care could push transgender youth to suicide or exacerbate mental health concerns.

UPMC has not directly addressed the letter from Oz.

“As we continue to monitor executive branch memos, directives, and other guidance from the federal government, these actions have made it abundantly clear that our clinicians can no longer provide certain types of gender-affirming care without risk of criminal prosecution,” UPMC said in a statement.

The letter from Oz gave hospitals 30 days to provide policies about informed consent protocols for children with gender dysphoria, changes to clinical practice guidelines the institution would enact and any adverse events related to gender-affirming procedures, “particularly children who later look to de-transition.”

It also requested financial data around gender-affirming care.

While the letter does not directly threaten to remove funding from institutions providing such care, it notes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “has an obligation to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars” and says the agency is “conducting a comprehensive review of federal payment policies related to gender transition procedures for patients under 19 years of age.”

“President Trump has been clear: America will protect kids from life-altering and experimental procedures,” Oz said in a statement. “CMS has warned hospitals and state Medicaid programs about these dangers — and is taking regulatory enforcement actions. It’s time for children’s hospitals to do the right thing.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, nine hospitals including UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh received the letter. The others are: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Children’s Hospital Colorado and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Officials at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in a letter to staffers announced that, “under current conditions and despite significant efforts to avoid this outcome,” its gender-affirming care surgical program would be closed July 22. The letter said there was “no viable alternative.”

A spokesperson for Boston Children’s Hospital in a statement sent to TribLive last week said the hospital was reviewing the recent letter. The statement cited state law that protects gender-affirming care and said the hospital is “committed to providing safe, evidence-based, and compassionate care to every patient and family we serve.”

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center said it does not perform gender reassignment surgery on minors but will reply to the letter.