Citing “changing federal expectations,” the gender clinic at MultiCare’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital & Health Network in Tacoma has cut its waitlist for trans youth, according to an email the Health Network’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Barbara Thompson sent to staff this morning. It won’t start new medical care for trans youth after September 12, but will continue providing hormones and puberty blockers to patients already receiving them.
According to the email obtained by The Stranger, Mary Bridge has provided children with puberty blockers and hormones for “many years,” but started a waitlist when “staffing challenges” prevented it from taking new patients. The hospital does not perform gender-affirming surgery, but the clinic’s website still says its multidisciplinary team includes “endocrinology experts.”
“This month, we began notifying families that we will no longer maintain a wait list as we assess the changing federal expectations around our provision of medical interventions to minors as a treatment for gender dysphoria,” Thompson’s email read. “While the waitlist for medical interventions is no longer available, we will continue to provide patients with behavioral health support.”
“After Sept. 12, we will not start new patients on medical treatment. This applies to both existing patients not currently on medications and patients who are new to the clinic.”
According to a 2023 post announcing Thompson’s promotion to CMO of Mary Bridge’s health network, she’s a pediatric endocrinologist and her responsibilities included “pediatric outpatient services, specialty and subspecialty clinics, as well as Mary Bridge Children’s urgent care, primary care and affiliate clinics.”
When asked about the changes to their care, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed the change in policy. They also confirmed that it was due to concerns over the loss of federal funding. “We continue to assess the changing federal expectations around our provision of medical interventions to minors as a treatment for gender dysphoria,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “At the risk of losing federal funding (more than 60% of Mary Bridge Children’s patients rely on Medicaid), we needed to make adjustments to the services provided at the gender clinic.”
Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning federal support for trans care for people under 19. The attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and Minnesota sued, and it was blocked by a federal judge in Seattle. The preliminary injunction is still in effect, according to Attorney General Nick Brown’s office. The office says it was not aware of Thompson’s letter and had no additional comments at this time.
Earlier this year, Seattle Children’s halted gender-affirming surgeries for youth, restarted gender-affirming surgeries, and then stopped providing them again. In that time, the National Institutes of Health cancelled one of its grants funding research on gender affirming care. Brown’s office argued in court the cancellation was retaliatory, but the judge didn’t see the connection as other grants were left untouched. After Children’s stopped performing surgeries the second time, advocates including the ACLU of Washington’s health policy director signed a letter alleging the hospital was violating state anti-discrimination law.
According to an NBC News analysis, at least 21 hospitals and health systems in the US have ended or restricted trans care since January. Another five have taken down webpages dedicated to trans care for minors. Federal attempts to disrupt trans care or defund hospitals often conflict with state laws against discrimination in medical care.
This is a developing story. It has been updated to include comment from Mary Bridge Hospital.
