VCU Health ends gender-affirming care services for youth patients

WTRV CBS 6 | July 29, 2025
Original article can be viewed HERE
Photo Credit: VCU Magazine

RICHMOND, Va. — VCU Health will no longer provide gender-affirming care at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU for those under age 19, the health system announced Tuesday.

According to the online statement, this decision is based on federal and state directives and comes after a “thoughtful and thorough assessment that revealed no other viable options at this time.”

“We recognize how difficult this change is for many of our patients, families, team members and community members,” the announcement reads. “Our care teams remain committed to their patient families. As we wind down these services over the next 90 days, our care teams will provide support and assist with safe transfer of care for existing patients, considering each youth’s needs with compassion and clinical judgement.”

The program closing will seemingly affect all gender-affirming care services for youth, including medications, according to the website.

Earlier this year, the health system suspended gender-affirming medication and surgery for those under 19 in response to an executive order and “clear guidance from the state.”

That guidance came a week into the second term of President Donald Trump, who issued an Executive Order telling hospitals they could lose federal funding if they provided surgical procedures or medications like puberty blockers or hormones to minors.

Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to the hospital at the time and said the language of the order was clear and all procedures “must end immediately.”

At that time, the hospital said it was ending both surgical and medical treatments but announced at the end of February it was resuming medical treatments for current patients.

But despite the legal challenges, hospitals around the country have been announcing similar decisions in recent weeks including Children’s National in Washington, D.C., Kaiser Permanente, and Yale New Haven Hospital.

Those announcement followed a July 9 announcement from the Justice Department that it had subpoenaed 20 doctors and clinics that provided transgender medical procedures on minors.

The White House touted the hospitals’ decisions in a statement last week and included Richmond on its list.

Shannon McKay, executive director of the nonprofit He She Ze and We, shared the following statement with CBS 6.

I am beyond disappointed in the decision VCU has made to cave into political pressure and stop gender-affirming care for ages 18 and under. The bulk of the damage, however, was done earlier in the year when VCU and other major hospital systems stopped serving new patients seeking gender-affirming medical care.

As a result, our organization has been working to connect our families to providers to receive the care they need and deserve. We will never stop supporting our transgender loved ones, their families, and allies who want to work alongside us. These are challenging times. He She Ze & We is here as a stable, dependable, and trusted resource working to meet the escalating needs of our families with trans and nonbinary loved ones of all ages.

A Richmond-area family is part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging Trump’s order.

VCU Health ends gender-affirming care services for youth patients

VCU Health ends gender-affirming care services for youth patients

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