NYU Langone Health Closes Trans Youth Health Program

New York University (NYU) Langone Health has shut down its “Transgender Youth Health Program,” which means minors will no longer have access to hormone therapies, puberty blockers, or surgeries related to gender transition.

This decision mirrors ongoing tensions between the hospital and the Trump administration, which has hinted at withdrawing federal funding for facilities providing these services to individuals under 18.

While NYU encompasses a larger university system, NYU Langone Health is its specialized medical network.

In a statement on Tuesday, NYU Langone spokesperson Steve Ritea pointed to staffing changes and the legal landscape as reasons for closing the program.

“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program,” Ritea noted.

This program, part of the Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, previously offered:

• Medications that support gender affirmation, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy for children.
• Surgical options primarily for older adolescents in well-evaluated circumstances.

NYU Langone Health’s website emphasized: “We help children and their families understand and explore their identity, aiming to assist them in achieving a nuanced sense of self.”

Hospital representatives explained that before these changes, the focus of their youth program was mainly pharmaceutical treatments rather than surgical options. Adult transgender care, including hormone therapy and surgeries, remains unaffected through their broader Transgender Health services.

The shutdown has come amid significant pressure from Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump, since taking office, has signed an executive order and proposed regulations targeting medical facilities that provide hormone therapies and surgeries to minors.

“Across the country, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through irreversible medical interventions,” Trump’s executive order states.

Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggested rules that would cut Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospitals offering puberty blockers, hormone therapies, or surgeries to those under 18.

Though the pediatric mental health services will remain, the medical aspects of the program concerning puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are discontinued.

The financial implications for NYU Langone are significant. In the 2023 fiscal year, the system received over $600 million in federal grants.

The executive order effectively placed large hospitals in a tough spot: continue caring for a small group of gender-dysphoric youth or risk losing crucial federal funding.

Democratic Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal criticized the hospital’s decision last year, describing it as a result of relentless pressure from the Department of Justice (DOJ). He deemed the move “cowardly” and “disturbing,” stating that the institution was yielding to federal demands and breaching New York’s anti-discrimination laws.

“The federal government has put hospitals in a Hobson’s choice,” Hoylman-Sigal remarked. “They are literally pulling the rug out from patients and their families.”

NYU Langone isn’t facing this issue alone; many other medical institutions are also scaling back their pediatric transgender services.

For instance, facilities like Children’s National in D.C. and Children’s Hospital Colorado have halted their discussions around gender-affirming treatments for minors, while others have discreetly removed references to such programs from their websites.

This shift aligns with HHS’s push to align federal healthcare policies with the current administration’s focus on child safety.

Under recently proposed rules, which closed for public comment on Tuesday, the Trump administration reiterated its intent to protect children and taxpayer resources by making participation in Medicare and Medicaid dependent on hospitals discontinuing “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors.

• Mount Sinai – NYC: Reported to have canceled some youth gender-affirming appointments.

• New York-Presbyterian: Cleared language regarding minor-specific gender care from its platforms.

• Children’s National – D.C.: Joining others in reevaluating their programs under federal scrutiny.

The recent closure has incited a considerable debate in Albany, a notably liberal area that has historically advocated for minors’ access to these treatments, even amid concerns over whether children are fully able to comprehend such significant decisions.

“The last part of the brain to mature is the prefrontal cortex, which governs oversight of complex thinking, decision-making, and personality traits,” GoodRX explained.

New York Attorney General Letitia James previously cautioned hospitals that refusing care based on gender identity might breach state anti-discrimination laws.

“Choosing to deny services to any individual based on protected status is discrimination under New York law,” James stated in a warning to providers.

However, despite these state protections, the risk of losing federal Medicare and Medicaid status looms larger than potential legal issues for many hospital boards.