Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Holds Inaugural Transgender Health Conference

Event Marks Public Launch of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital's Gender Institute

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 21, 2019) – Dignity Health Saint Francis Memorial Hospital hosted San Francisco’s first medical conference on transgender health—marking the public launch of its Gender Institute.  

“Discussions on Gender Affirmation: Surgery and Beyond,” was held May 30-June 1 at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco and co-hosted by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (“WPATH”).

“While Saint Francis Memorial Hospital has been supporting the health needs of transgender patients for decades, this area of medicine is rapidly evolving and the Gender Institute wanted to provide a venue to discuss and deliberate on best care,” said Kathleen Jordan, MD, chief medical officer at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital. “The conference hosted health care professionals sharing and learning best practices in addressing the health care of persons of all gender identities, and brought together true pioneers in their fields.” 

The conference aimed to help health care providers address the ethical and practice-related concerns of serving individuals who are considering surgery. Topics covered included: 

• An ethical framework for navigating challenges in gender care
• Counseling patients/clients regarding surgery options
• Physical preparation for surgery
• Discussions on complications of gender surgeries
• Masculinizing and feminizing surgical procedures
• Nonbinary surgery requests
• Ethical issues in adolescent treatment
• How to be a well-informed health care advocate 
• Facial feminization and voice surgery

The goal of the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Gender Institute, launched two years ago, is to deliver compassionate, high-quality, and affordable health services to transgender patients and their families. Led by a council of experts, the Gender Institute is committed to providing patients with the respectful environment that they deserve. 

The Gender Institute’s multidisciplinary professionals together provide a comprehensive continuum of care to the Hospital’s patients and their families throughout the pre-operative process, including a positive and supportive environment for transgender patients to seek care, counseling services, and referrals to related resources and services. Saint Francis also includes cultural training for its staff to ensure a welcoming and healing environment for persons of all gender identities.

For more information about the Gender Institute at Saint Francis, and the recent conference, visit https://www.dignityhealth.org/bayarea/locations/saintfrancis/services/gender-institute 

Dignity Health Saint Francis Memorial Hospital is an accredited, not-for-profit community hospital that has been providing exceptional health care in San Francisco for more than 100 years. Located atop Nob Hill, near downtown San Francisco, Saint Francis is home to the Bothin Burn Center, the largest in Northern California, and the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute. With its close proximity to downtown San Francisco, Saint Francis also specializes in Occupational Health and Emergency Medicine. Saint Francis has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine and Hip/Knee Replacement Surgery and is a Certified Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. For more information, call (415) 353-6000 or visit DignityHealth.org/SaintFrancis. 

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