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Kaiser mental health workers call for ending “pause” on gender affirming surgeries

Mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente call on Kaiser to end pause on gender affirming surgeries for patients under 19

Mental health therapists represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers are calling on Kaiser Permanente to end its pause on gender affirming surgeries for patients under 19. NUHW represents more private sector mental health professionals than any other U.S. union, including more than 4,700 psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii.

“Our mission as healthcare workers at Kaiser is to ensure that everyone receives the care they need, but by giving into pressure from the Trump Administration, Kaiser is denying patients medically appropriate, life-affirming care,” said Gary Shaller, a psychologist for Kaiser in the Bay Area. “Trans kids face significant, sometimes life-threatening, trauma navigating who they are and their place in a society where the President and cultural influencers are stoking hatred against them. For Kaiser to compound the transphobia that is spreading in our country by rendering patients helpless to get the care they need will absolutely put lives at risk.”

NUHW has long supported the right to gender affirming care and the principle that the government should not interfere in personal medical decisions.

“Medical decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their loved ones and their doctors,” NUHW President Sophia Mendoza said. “It’s deeply troubling that Kaiser would stray from this principle, and NUHW stands ready to help Kaiser in any way push back on the pressure that led to this decision and end the “pause” on gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19 right away.”

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The National Union of Healthcare Workers is a member-led movement that represents 19,000 healthcare workers in California and Hawaii, including more than 4,700 mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente.

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