Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is slated to shut down its pioneering Center for Transyouth Health and Development, as well as its Gender-Affirming Care surgical program come July 22, the hospital announced in a recent memo. The decision follows mounting federal pressure driven by policies from the Trump administration, which include an executive order to withhold federal funding from entities providing certain types of gender-affirming care for individuals under 19.
In what was described as a move to safeguard the hospital's operations against "increasingly severe impacts of federal administrative actions and proposed policies," CHLA officials, in a statement obtained by CBS News Los Angeles, noted that their decision was a reluctant one necessitated by external pressures that are largely beyond their control. The hospital pointed to a multitude of factors that to juxtapose with the Trump administration's executive orders, have exacerbated conditions to the point of unsustainability. These include California's budget crisis, federal legislation, rulemaking, and the broader climate of economic uncertainty.
Further details were revealed in a memo that highlighted how nearly two-thirds of CHLA's funding is federally sourced, more than any other pediatric hospital in the state. As reported by FOX LA, without this critical funding, the hospital is apprehensive that its operational capacity could be limited to just over a month and a half. Statements from the hospital emphasized the real and present dangers posed by the federal government, which has already demonstrated a willingness to sever hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. institutions for noncompliance with executive orders.
CHLA's reliance on federal funding, it turns out, was a point of vulnerability that the Trump policies have unforgivingly targeted. The consequences for noncompliance are stark: potential exclusion from federal funding and participation in Medicaid and Medi-Cal programs, as noted in an email acquired by ABC7 Eyewitness News. In response, CHLA has begun the process to quickly notify families affected by the closure, pledging to aid in finding alternative care providers.
Meanwhile, in solidarity with those impacted by the shutdown, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has planned a rally to protest the closure and its repercussions on the healthcare of transgender youth in Los Angeles. The announcement has been met with disappointment and concern from the community for the future of transgender healthcare in the region.
