A short intro:
We are a non-profit team of activists advocating the fair recognition of medical needs and human rights of transgendered people in BC.
Our Primary Anchors in the Trans Health Care Community:
Dr. Cameron Bowman, MD FRCSC (SRS surgeon)
http://www.surgery.ubc.ca/faculty/cbowman.html
Lukas Walther, Trangender Health Program
http://www.vch.ca/transhealth/
Dr. Melady Preece, Registered Psychologist
http://www.drmeladypreece.com/
The Problem We're Trying to Address:
The Vancouver General Hospital Gender Clinic was shut down in 2002. Responding to the vacuum in specialized medical services needed by the transgender community, Vancouver Coastal Health hosted a conversation with the community, which lead to the creation of the Transgender Health Program, and an ongoing information resource development program began.
The Ministry of Health recognized the fallout from the closure of the Clinic, and was aware of the demand for access to basic MSP-covered surgery, so MSP explored the costs associated with sending trans patients to surgeons outside BC, and concluded the high costs costs justified creating a surgical role and building a care model in BC instead.
Dr. Bowman was recruited to fill this roll. Since he came online with the new care model in early 2006, there have been several rounds of funding released which have not made their way to allocation for trans surgery. Dr. Bowman now has a growing list of 140+ patients who have been approved by MSP, but he cannot perform any of these surgeries because he cannot access VCH Operating Room time. This is the administrative failing of the MSP-proposed care model.
The Double-Whammy:
Currently MSP will only provide coverage for a small selection of available trans surgeries; which only address the needs of a small portion of the trans population of BC. This policy does not adequately provide accessibility of medically-necessary surgeries or services (as determined by primary care providers such as GPs, surgeons, and therapists) and has effectively created preferential treatment and discriminated against trans individuals. It has placed the burden of care (and associated costs) on trans individuals and our families.
As Trans Health Program resources emphasize, there's no one "right way" to transition, or "right" way to be trans. Transgender persons shouldn't be cornered into a genital-centric model that fits the surgical needs of a few, but ignores the surgical and service needs of the majority.
We feel that we don't need to tell you -- our trans-identified and trans-allied audience -- how most trans people's lives have been destroyed and completely put on hold because of these two factors, over the past 5 years. We recognize how frustrated, overwhelmed, and degraded the community feels. Many trans people cannot work, function, or reintegrate without having had access to treatment. Trans youth are especially vulnerable without establishment or basic advocacy.
How We Propose to Address these Challenges:
While we recognize there are amazing people on-board at MSP who are doing their best to press for change, we also see that internal evolution is not enough. Our call to action for trans people and our allies in BC is simply to:
- Apply political pressure to our Provincial government,
- Raise awareness about these issues within Vancouver Coastal Health,
- Charge the Minister of Health with inadequately addressing the primary health care of trans individuals, and
- Press for full coverage of all foremost trans surgeries and services, including: phalloplasty, metoidioplasty, facial feminization surgery, breast augmentation in all cases, any revision or replacement surgeries, and hair removal coverage via laser and/or electrolysis.
We have consulted with our advisers in the health care community and their foremost suggestion is to channel the frustrations of the trans community in a coordinated letter-writing campaign to each of the parties involved (MSP, VCH, Minister of Health.) Our team is in the process of drafting letters to send to these parties.
We intend to publish a complete "Advocacy Kit", containing a series of web-fillable PDFs for you to download, print, and mail. We ask that you include your name, signature, and CareCard Patient Health Number to verify your BC residence, and validate your protest.
As we gauge the response of our health officials, we may also wind up preparing for public demonstrations in Vancouver and/or Victoria. We may also need to escalate our protest and involve the news media.
If you happen to be very "out" and involved in the community (or physically located outside Greater Vancouver) and you also happen to blog or video blog, we would really appreciate your support. In return, we would post links to your content from our site, and leverage our collective protests.
Conclusion:
We have come so far since 2002, and so close to a trans health care system that actually works! We have an incredible opportunity to build the best trans health care model in North America. Help make BC the "Best Place on Earth" for ALL British Columbians, which includes trans people!
If you feel as strongly as we do about creating this change, please subscribe via RSS or email to our updates.
We would love to hear from you. Please email your comments or concerns, or apply to our team at: vantagblog@gmail.com
- The VanTAG Team
