Health care hard to come by for transgender people outside urban areas
Published: February 12, 2013
By Kate Moser
California Health Reporthttp://www.healthycal.org/archives/10880
Sandra Hinojosa , a transwoman, is a longtime member of Conexiones, an LGBT leadership group operated by CRLA in Salinas. Photo: Kate Moser/California Health ReportBraveman said some Monterey County hospitals refuse to place transgender patients in rooms that match their gender identities. Some providers in the county don't understand the basics of transgender care and refuse to learn, Braveman said; some are rude to transgender people who come in, some refuse to give them care, and every now and then a provider will find it so bizarre that someone is transgender, he said, that they will call the police.
Aside from genital surgery – which not all transgender people seek out – there is nothing particularly special that transgender people need from doctors. Hormone therapy replacement – which not all transgender people seek out – is common among all genders. All other health needs simply relate to the human body, Cricchio said, regardless of a person's gender identity.
Lacking health insurance because of its expense, many transgender people – like many people in general – get their primary care at emergency rooms or clinics only when they absolutely need it. Getting to Santa Cruz, to San Francisco or south to San Luis Obispo for care from doctors who are trained to work with transgender patients is only a dream for many people in Monterey County.
"Traveling these distances are simply not an option for those who do not have the means for such travel, nor the money to finance their own health care," Cricchio said.
