Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Gender Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gender Health SF reports rising referrals, access hurdles and director resignation
Summary
Gender Health SF told the Health Commission referrals and measures of surgery readiness are improving but service bottlenecks remain; director Julie Graham announced her resignation and outlined next steps for staffing and training.
Julie Graham, director of Gender Health SF, told the Health Commission the program has grown since its 2013 launch and now provides navigation and access to gender-affirming surgeries for patients in San Francisco's public health network. "We are the first program in the nation to provide navigation and access to these surgeries for public health consumers," Graham said, describing peer-led navigation, presurgery education, and coordinated aftercare.
Dr. Seth Pardo, the program's evaluator, presented outcome measures showing high self-reported surgery readiness and strong patient satisfaction after surgery. Pardo said about 70 percent of in-network surgeries are covered by the San Francisco Health Plan, 10 percent by Healthy SF, and that out-of-network genital surgeries face wait times roughly four times longer than in-network procedures.
Graham and Pardo described operational achievements including peer-led navigation, monthly education groups in English and Spanish, sensitivity trainings for department staff and a facial feminization pilot. They also listed challenges: misinformation about surgical outcomes, housing and aftercare barriers, limited provider capacity for specialized procedures, high complication rates requiring rigorous preparation, and lack of adequate access to electrolysis for pre-surgery hair removal.
During questions, commissioners pressed on behavioral health and substance-use considerations for surgical eligibility; Graham said substance use does not automatically preclude surgery but that active use of certain substances (for example, methamphetamine) may increase perioperative risk and that the program seeks to provide wraparound care to stabilize patients prior to surgery.
Near the close of her presentation, Julie Graham announced she had resigned and outlined staffing priorities, including recruiting a new clinical director and a training lead to sustain the program's evaluation and education work.
Commissioners commended the program's staff and its peer-staffing model and asked staff to continue building training partnerships with UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital to expand provider capacity and retain specialized surgeons.
