MON AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Lisa Johnson, BioForward Wisconsin; UW Health, Children’s Wisconsin reject appeal to resume gender-affirming care for trans youth

May 22, 2026

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— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with returning guest Lisa Johnson, CEO of BioForward Wisconsin.

She shares an overview on some of the latest developments in Wisconsin biohealth, as well as major initiatives driving job growth and innovation in the sector. Johnson also emphasizes the fierce competition taking place between states for talent and business investment.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a Republican state or a Democratic state … Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina is huge, that they are fighting for this industry and pushing hard,” she said.

As states are considering related initiatives, BioForward is looking at issuing a legislative platform next year aimed at making Wisconsin more competitive.

“Speed, technology, stability, which means it could be utilities, but also stability of workforce … We have to obviously wait until after the election and see who’s in, but no matter who it is, they really need to start looking and listening to us,” she said, adding “we need better site readiness programs, investments into that.”

She warned that without greater support at the state level for efforts like this, “companies can’t wait two or three years” and will move to places that are offering better incentives and services. Johnson also called for employing more attraction personnel, noting other states are currently beating Wisconsin on this.

The discussion touches on each of the projects being advanced through the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub initiative, which includes efforts to improve health data, expand access to medical scanning, boost the state’s workforce and more.

“We are hitting the goals that we have set, the governance team is doing a great job … I think that’s what I’m really proud about with all of these projects and BioForward, this governance team, is that we’re demonstrating you’ve put money in good hands in Wisconsin,” she said.

Meanwhile, she also reflects on her time leading BioForward Wisconsin, as she’s planning to step down from leading the group at the end of the year. Johnson, who turned 65 in October, says “it’s someone else’s turn” to lead the organization in 2027.

“It’s been a great ride at BioForward for 11 years, and just to watch this industry just take off and BioForward playing a central role in so many things,” she said.

Listen to the podcast here and see the full list of WisBusiness podcasts.

— LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, businesses and other organizations are urging UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin to resume providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth.

But both health systems were quick to reject their appeal.

In a letter to UW Health CEO Alan Kaplan and Children’s Wisconsin President and CEO Gil Peri, dozens of organizations led by the advocacy organization Fair Wisconsin note gender-affirming care is legal in Wisconsin. But they say it’s “increasingly more and more difficult to access” in the state due to the providers’ decision to stop providing this care.

“These decisions must be reversed and care restarted immediately,” the groups wrote.

Both UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin moved to stop providing this care in January, citing proposed changes at the federal level that were announced late last year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

But the advocates say an April decision in a lawsuit challenging the HHS directive “puts a stop to the federal action” that presented the most imminent threat of enforcement.

“The other most recent federal action was the proposal of rules threatening access to gender-affirming care for youth, and those proposed rules are exactly that – proposed, not finalized, and not in effect,” they wrote, urging hospital leaders to “act on their dedication to their patients and reinstate this legal and medically necessary care for our youth.”

In response to the letter, UW Health says its decision to pause medication therapies for pediatric and adolescent gender-affirming care was due to “ongoing federal actions” that threaten health systems providing such care.

In an emailed statement, the health system acknowledged “this is evidence-based care” but said the threats from federal actions aren’t fully resolved, arguing the decision to stop offering this treatment wasn’t made lightly.

“Therefore, the current risk is too great to resume this care. We recognize the challenges faced by impacted patients and families and remain committed to providing patient-centered care and supporting their health and well-being throughout this critical time.”

Meanwhile, Children’s Wisconsin noted this issue “matters deeply” to patients and their families, and emphasized its focus on supporting the well-being of every child.

“Due to ongoing legal and regulatory uncertainty affecting organizations and providers across the country, we are not currently providing gender-affirming pharmacologic care,” an emailed statement reads. “We recognize the impact this has on patients and families.”

See the letter.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate held at 3.5% in April, remaining below the national rate of 4.3%.

That’s according to the latest preliminary federal data released by the state Department of Workforce Development, which shows both unemployment and labor force participation in Wisconsin were unchanged over the month. The latter remained at 64.4% in April, above the national rate of 61.8%.

Total employment for the month reached 3,020,100, an increase of 400 over the month but a decline of 2,900 over the year.

See the release.

— The Wisconsin Technology Council will convene experts in the field of quantum computing at a luncheon next week.

The event is being held Thursday at the UW-Milwaukee Lubar Entrepreneurship Center.

Panelists include Ali Abedi and Prasenjit Guptasarma of UW-Milwaukee, Dmitry Babikov of Marquette University and Mark Eriksson of the Wisconsin Quantum Institute and the UW-Madison.

Meanwhile, Kate Timmerman, CEO of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, and Ona Ambrozaite, executive director of the Wisconsin Quantum Institute, will discuss opportunities for this emerging industry.

See event details and register here.

Check out a recent story on quantum in Wisconsin.

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