Vanderbilt Will Stop Providing Gender-Affirming Surgeries to Trans Adultshttps://www.them.us/story/vanderbilt-will-stop-providing-gender-affirming-surgeries-to-trans-adults 🔗Samantha Riedel (23 Feb 2026)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) will soon stop providing gender-affirming surgical care for transgender adults, representatives announced on Saturday, sparking outcry from trans Tennesseans.
"Due to operational limitations and lack of surgical coverage, Vanderbilt Health will cease providing gender-affirming plastic surgeries for adults," VUMC officials wrote in a February 21 statement published in The Tennessean, adding that the hospital will still offer "nonsurgical gender-affirming care for adults 19 years and older." The Nashville-based VUMC was the only hospital in Tennessee to offer gender-affirming surgery for trans adults prior to the announcement, per The Tennessean.
It remains unclear when VUMC plans to end gender-affirming surgeries, or how patients already scheduled for surgery will be affected. In response to Them's request for further comment on Monday, a VUMC representative directed us back to the hospital's statement and said they were "in the process of contacting our patients regarding these changes," but did not respond to additional questions. An email sent to VUMC's LGBTQ+ program returned as undeliverable to that email address.
"I've heard from a lot of trans folks who were on the list to have consults, to have surgery later this year and they received a letter Friday saying they were no longer on the list," Nashville Metro Council member-at-large Olivia Hill told WZTV. Dahron Anneliese Johnson, co-chair of the Tennessee Equality Project's National Committee, called VUMC's communication with patients "complicated and obtuse."
