From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— 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.”
— Organizers for the Innovation to Commercialization Pipeline program will start taking applications next week for a second round of funding, supporting early-stage biotech companies in Wisconsin.
Forward BIOLABS and BioForward Wisconsin yesterday announced applications will open Tuesday and run through June 19. Awards range from $25,000 to $75,000, funding projects that help recipients hit a milestone and attract further investment.
The program aims to help emerging businesses surmount common challenges, supporting access to expertise, commercialization services and prepare to raise capital if needed.
It gets state funding as part of Forward BIOLABS’ project under the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub initiative. Jessica Martin Eckerly, CEO and co-founder of Forward BIOLABS, notes the state’s biohealth industry contributes more than $37 billion to the state economy and supports at least 141,000 jobs.
“To keep that engine growing, we need to ensure that promising early-stage companies have the resources to move from innovation to commercialization,” she said in a statement.
See the release below.
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