Grantee: UW Medicine
Timeframe: July 2026 – June 2027 | Amount: $173,578.60
Transgender and gender-diverse people face significant barriers to gender-affirming medical care, including policy restrictions, discrimination, limited insurance coverage, provider shortages, long surgical wait times, and lack of accessible patient education and support. These barriers are especially acute for transgender veterans who rely on VA health coverage and for patients seeking complex gender-affirming surgeries, which are limited in Washington State and largely provided through UW Medicine and Harborview Medical Center.
UW Medicine will establish two gender-affirming care initiatives in King County to improve access to care for transgender and gender-diverse LGBTQIA2S+ communities: a telehealth clinic for veterans who cannot access gender-affirming hormone therapy through the VA, and an education and peer support program for patients and caregivers seeking gender-affirming surgery at Harborview Medical Center. Together, these initiatives aim to restore access to hormone therapy for veterans excluded from VA-based care, improve surgical readiness, increase access to accurate and accessible information, strengthen peer and caregiver support, and use patient experiences to improve care delivery over time.
Virtual Gender-Affirming Clinic for TGD Veterans: The clinic will help veterans learn about the service, connect to care, complete registration and scheduling, access telehealth visits, obtain medications, and coordinate information between UW Medicine and VA clinicians. Seattle VA clinicians, the VA’s LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator, and Minority Vets of America will help share information with eligible veterans. Because VA clinicians cannot directly refer patients to the clinic under current policy restrictions, grant funds will support a scheduler to provide trauma-informed registration, scheduling, records coordination, and linkage to medication support.
Clinic visits will be provided through UW Medicine’s secure telehealth platform during a twice-monthly, four-hour clinic. Care will be provided by UW Medicine clinicians with experience in gender-affirming care, including members of Trans Health Allies. Minority Vets of America will help cover medication costs for veterans who cannot access gender-affirming hormone therapy through other sources, using its Unmet Care Needs Fund and pharmacy partnership. UW Medicine’s electronic health record system will also allow VA clinicians to review relevant care information, monitor medication effects, and support ongoing care coordination.
Peer Support Program for Patients Seeking Gender-Affirming Surgery: The program will provide virtual education and peer support sessions focused on surgical options, preparation, recovery, risks, expected outcomes, and practical support needs. Sessions will be accessible, distributed in digital format, and delivered through secure telehealth platforms.
Trained professionals will lead the sessions in partnership with peer navigators who have lived experience with gender-affirming surgery. Peer navigators will be recruited through Harborview Medical Center’s surgical patient network and community partners serving transgender communities in King County. The sessions will give patients and caregivers a structured space to ask questions, learn from peers, prepare for surgery and recovery, and better understand the surgical process.
ABOUT OUR GRANTEE
UW Medicine
“UW Medicine is an integrated clinical, research and learning health system with a single mission to improve the health of the public. More than 35,000 UW Medicine faculty, non-faculty practitioners and staff work to improve health for all people through excellence in clinical, research and education/training programs. With these integrated programs, UW Medicine health professionals provide the most up-to-date care for each individual patient, lead one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive medical research programs, and provide innovative learning programs for students, trainees, and practitioners in the health professions. As the only comprehensive clinical, research and learning health system in the five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) region, UW Medicine provides a higher degree of healthcare, ranging from primary and preventive care to the most highly specialized care for the most complex medical conditions.”
