Primary care providers called on to respond to survey to improve trans health care in Hamilton

Local health-care providers are being asked to fill out a survey to help make it easier for people who are transgender to access care in Hamilton.

The Hamilton Trans Health Coalition is calling on primary care providers to explain what barriers they face in providing gender-affirming care for patients who are trans.

Gender-affirming care includes things that are related to transitioning, like HRT (hormone replacement therapy) or surgery, but also includes doctors recognizing their patients’ pronouns and chosen names, and not making assumptions about their sexual history or sexual orientation.

Cole Gately, chair of the coalition, said the goal of the survey is to determine what kind of barriers and motivators are impacting Hamilton’s health-care providers when they have a patient who is trans.

“We just want to know what are the barriers, what’s getting in the way? Why aren’t you doing it and how can we help? There are lots of resources out there. Maybe you’re not aware of them.”

Since introducing a project co-ordinator earlier this year, the coalition has heard from some doctors, but it’s also heard from many trans Hamiltonians who are travelling outside of the city to get basic health care that their own doctors are capable of providing.

Gately said some people are being told by their doctors to seek out specific care on their own and then they’ll write a referral, but he said that burden shouldn’t be on the patient if providing that care is well within the doctor’s own abilities.

“What I said to somebody yesterday was, imagine if you broke your wrist and you went into the doctor and the doctor said, ‘Well, you find an orthopedic surgeon and then I’ll make the referral.’ That doesn’t happen. The doctor finds the orthopedic surgeon for you and makes the referral because the doctor is the expert.”

The survey is open until July 28 and the coalition is urging any and all primary care providers in Hamilton — including family doctors, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to fill it out.