Transhealth Gender-affirming Care Access Program Aims to Improve Care Delivery

NORTHAMPTON — The Transhealth Gender-affirming Care Access Program (TGCAP) is live and available to licensed healthcare or mental-health clinicians in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Through TGCAP, clinicians can ask questions about the care of trans and gender-diverse patients and receive a well-informed, comprehensive response from the gender-affirming-care experts at Transhealth.

Funded through a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, this innovative program is designed to strengthen the clinical knowledge and skills clinicians need to care for trans and gender-diverse patients across the state.

Here’s how it works: healthcare clinicians visit the TGCAP website and ask questions through an online form. The gender-affirming care experts at Transhealth aim to respond within 72 hours. This service is free, and there is currently no limit to the number of questions a clinician can ask.

It’s estimated that there are over 45,000 trans and gender-diverse people living in Massachusetts, according to the Williams Institute. Many report being treated poorly within the healthcare system, according to the U.S. Transgender Survey.

“Nursing schools, medical schools, and other clinical training programs are not adequately preparing clinicians to care for trans and gender-diverse patients,” said Dallas Ducar, president and CEO of Transhealth. “That’s why this program is so critical. Every question asked and every peer-to-peer conversation that takes place creates a ripple effect that will enhance our state’s capacity to deliver the kind of compassionate, affirming care that every person deserves.”