TRANSGENDER HEALTH
PROGRAM
End of Year Highlights 2020
Welcome to our first Transgender Health Program newsletter. The Transgender Health Program is committed to providing comprehensive, compassionate, evidence-based care for gender diverse individuals in a supportive, affirming environment. During this difficult year, we wanted to share some of the small wins and accomplishments our Program has seen with our patients, their families, and community and campus partners. Despite the challenges, we have continued to see growth and are excited about the direction of the Program in the months and years ahead. As always, we are grateful for your feedback and support so that we can continue to move forward to provide the best possible care.

Cori Agarwal, MD
Medical Director, Transgender Health Program
ADAPTING DURING THE PANDEMIC
Despite the pandemic, our doors and phone lines remained open to serve patients on their gender journey. In March, when elective surgeries were halted, we advocated with Hospital leadership to ensure that gender affirming surgeries were prioritized and considered time sensitive and lifesaving. Appointments across all specialties were moved to virtual visits unless it was necessary to be seen in person.

Prior to the pandemic, we were able to get two of our family medicine providers licensed to deliver telehealth gender affirming hormone therapy and primary care to our interstate neighbors (ID, NV, WY, CO, NM). Our transgender and gender diverse (TGD) communities have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, this is why we additionally partnered with the Wellness Bus and the Utah Pride Center to facilitate dedicated COVID testing days at no charge.
ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUTCOMES
For the first time in 7 years the University of Utah Health Main Hospital earned Top Performer status in the Human Rights Campaign’s Healthcare Equality Index. We are proud of this achievement and look forward to getting all of our inpatient facilities designated.
PATIENT & FAMILY ADVISORY BOARD
Because of how new our Program is, there are many firsts, but this one may be our proudest. Better health outcomes are achieved when patients have a voice in their healthcare journey. This is why we’ve created a Patient and Family Advisory Board that includes patients of transgender experience and their support systems. They are helping us shape the strategy and direction of our Program which will ensure our services are patient-centric.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
You may have seen us at the 18 events we attended this year from local community organizations to University of Utah campus events.
PATIENT EDUCATION
Every month we have hosted a virtual seminar on transgender health topics free to the community ranging from services we offer to how to advocate for yourself with health insurance. We’ve recorded these seminars and they are available on our YouTube playlist.
SPONSORSHIPS & GRANTS
For 3 years now, we have been participating with Genderbands to offer a discounted top surgery for their grant for uninsured community members. In addition, we were proud sponsors of this year’s Trans Pride and Genderevolution.
EDUCATION UPDATES
We seek to educate providers, trainees, and the public on the needs and health of gender diverse individuals.
U OF U HEALTH STAFF & PROVIDERS
We have reached over 500 staff and providers across our system with our Best Practices for Gender Affirming Care training delivered by Andy Rivera, Program Volunteer.
COMMUNITY PROVIDERS
We held our first stand alone virtual conference on transgender health topics this year! Conference attendees came from 13 different states across the U.S. and the majority of providers were primary care and behavioral health providers, who are typically our patients' first point of contact in the healthcare system.
NEW STAFF - Patient Coordinators
These two dedicated staff members manage over 700 calls and over 200 emails a month from our patients. This doesn’t include referrals and hours spent on submitting prior authorizations with insurance companies to make sure our patients get their services covered. We are grateful to have such amazing advocates as part of our Program, to help our patients navigate their healthcare journey with us.
HEAR FROM OUR PATIENTS
“The fact that they were willing to have conversations and make sure I felt safe and supported was really meaningful. Trans folx often get harmful and violent narratives placed on them,” River shares. “To have people take care of my wounds and not shy away from me and not be uncomfortable around me—it was so formative. I was visible and treated like every human should be treated.”
GIVE BACK TO THE TRANSGENDER HEALTH PROGRAM TODAY!
Help us continue to provide these lifesaving services and reach our vision of being a patient-centric, multi-disciplinary gender health program for all gender journeys across the lifespan.

Funds raised go toward:
  • Scholarships for those who are under/uninsured
  • Increasing our reach through education initiatives
  • Recognizing the patient advocates who give their time on our patient panels and serve as peer support
  • Increasing research opportunities on our TGD communities
50 North Medical Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84132
801-585-1618