Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
Health Systems Connecticut Children'sConnecticut Children’s Medical Center
501(c)(3)
282 Washington St.
Hartford, CT
Total Sex Change Patients
Total Surgery Patients
Total Hormone and Puberty Blocker Patients
Total Prescriptions Written
Total Submitted Charges
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit healthcare provider. The Hospital operates the Connecticut Children’s Gender Program, which offers hormone therapy and surgical procedures to children. Claims data confirms that Connecticut Children’s billed for hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex change surgeries for minors. Connecticut Children’s has “care alliances” with Nuvance Health System and Hartford Healthcare. Claims data confirms that Nuvance Health System and Hartford Healthcare have also billed for hormone therapy, puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minors.
For more information on the specific procedure and diagnostic codes and other methodology used to make these determination, read our white paper here.
Key Findings
The Connecticut Children’s Gender Program provides so-called “gender-affirming care” to children and young people, including hormone therapies and surgery. The Gender Program adheres to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care.
The program provides “surgical options for gender affirmation.”
The program website states that puberty blockers merely “pause” pubertal development.
The Gender Program is partly based on guidance from the Endocrine Society, an organization which claims that puberty blockers are reversible.
In 2023, Connecticut Children’s published a list of reading resources, including explicit and inappropriate material, for children of all ages. The resource introduction claims that “there is no age that’s ‘too young’ to start teaching kids to be allies for gender and pronoun diversity.” The reading recommendations include “The Pronoun Book” for children ages 0-3, “The Bare Naked Book” for children ages 3-6, and “Sex Is A Funny Word” for children ages 8-10.
In 2022, Gender Program Medical Director Dr. Priya Phulwani devised and published highly ideological transgender care accreditation material for the Medical Society of New Jersey. The material also claimed that puberty blockers can be prescribed between the ages of 7-13 for girls and 9-14 for boys, and that the effects of puberty-pausing medicine are “reversible.”
Priya Phulwani also claimed there was only a “very, very slim” chance that gender dysphoric adolescents would change their mind about their gender identity once they hit puberty.
Melissa Santos, head of Connecticut Children’s Pediatric Psychology Division, emphasized that “society needs to create environments that are positive, safe, and affirming” for transgender young people.
In October 2023, it was reported Connecticut Children’s was developing a portal that will connect kids from states where sex change surgeries and hormone injections are banned to resources that would help them pursue so-called “gender-affirming care.”
In 2023, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine gave a speech at Connecticut Children’s where Levine praised the “gender-affirming care” being offered.
Sex Change Treatments Offered
The Connecticut Children’s Gender Program
The program provides so-called “gender-affirming care,” including hormone therapies and surgery, to children and young people, and treats “children and adolescents who express a strong desire to be a gender other than that assigned at birth.” The Gender Program adheres to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards of care.
The Program can prescribe puberty blockers to adolescents upon receipt of an evaluation letter from a mental health professional.
“If you have the pediatrician referral but not the evaluation letter as of yet, we will still be happy to see you in the clinic, but please note it will be an informational visit only. We do think it is important for adolescents to have behavioral health support during their gender journey and ask for the evaluation letter in keeping with the current World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) latest standards of care (SOC 8) guidelines before writing prescriptions.”
The program website states that puberty blockers merely “pause” pubertal development.
“The prescriptions may include reversible medical interventions that pause current puberty (also called ‘puberty blockers’) or those that initiate the desired pubertal changes (such as estrogen or testosterone).”
The program provides “surgical options for gender affirmation.”
“The Division of Plastic Surgery at Connecticut Children’s offers surgical options for gender affirmation to individuals who have documented and persistent gender dysphoria. Gender incongruence occurs when a person’s sex assigned at birth does not correspond to the gender with which they identify. Gender affirmation operations are a group of surgical procedures that may be appropriate for transgender and gender diverse people to help affirm their gender identity.”
Definitions
SEX CHANGE PATIENTS: Total unique children who underwent “gender-affirming” surgical procedures or hormone/puberty blocker therapy.
TOTAL SURGERY PATIENTS: Total unique children who underwent “gender-affirming” surgical procedures.
TOTAL HORMONE AND PUBERTY BLOCKERS PATIENTS: Total unique children who were prescribed puberty blockers or received gender-affirming hormone therapy.
TOTAL PRESCRIPTIONS WRITTEN: Total number of prescriptions written by a provider for puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones for children.
TOTAL SUBMITTED CHARGES: This is the initial amount a healthcare provider or pharmacy submits to the insurance company for a specific service, treatment, or prescription before the insurance company reviews and adjusts the payment. This value includes both the pharmacy-submitted cost of prescription drug claims and the line-item charges associated with medical procedures. Please note that this amount does not necessarily reflect the full cost of the procedure or prescription, as it is subject to adjustments and negotiations by the insurance company.
Leadership
Executive Leadership
Name | Title | Compensation |
---|---|---|
James E. Shmerling, DHA, FACHE | President & CEO | $1,666,820 |
Bill Agostinucci, MS RPh, FACHE | Vice President, Corporate Services | $369,164 |
Ryan Calhoun, MBA, MHA | Vice President, Strategy and Care Integration | |
Jonathan M. Carroll, MBA | Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer | |
Bob Duncan, MBA | Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer | $0 |
Paul Dworkin, MD | Executive Vice President, Office for Community Child Health | $623,564 |
Bridgett Feagin, MBA | Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer | $687,699 |
Christine Finck, MD | Executive Vice President, Surgeon-in-Chief | $113,8627 |
Sarah Matney, MSOL, BSN, RN, CPON, CENP | Senior Vice President, Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Officer | $413,888 |
Lawrence (Larry) Milan, MA | Senior Vice President, Human Resources | $512,388 |
Nicole Murray, MD | President, Medical Staff | $0 |
Deb Pappas, MBA | Vice President, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer | $426,127 |
Lori R. Pelletier PhD, MBA | Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer | $500,946 |
Juan C. Salazar, MD, MPH | Executive Vice President, Physician-in-Chief | $800,755 |
Aimee Monroy Smith, MA | Senior Vice President, Government Relations and External Affairs | $322,818 |
R. Moses Vargas, Esq. | Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer | $524,054 |
The current leadership/titles are based on the Connecticut Children’s leadership website, but the compensation information is from Connecticut Children’s Medical Center 2022 Form 990, filed 8/10/23.
Where relevant, compensation reflects the tax year ending September 2022.
Board of Trustees
Name | Title | Compensation |
---|---|---|
Jonathan Rubin | Chair | $0 |
Jeffrey Klenk | Vice Chair | $0 |
ames E. Shmerling, DHA, FACHE | President & CEO | $1,666,820 |
Tina Brown-Stevenson | Secretary | $0 |
The current leadership/titles are based on the Connecticut Children’s leadership website, but the compensation information is from Connecticut Children’s Medical Center 2022 Form 990, filed 8/10/23.
Where relevant, compensation reflects the tax year ending September 2022.
In the News
Stay up to date with the latest news and updates.
Connecticut Children’s Hospital Creating Portal for Out-of-State Kids to Pursue…
10/24/2023In October 2023, it was reported Connecticut Children's was developing a portal that will connect kids from states where gender…
Read More →Gender Pronouns Matter: What Kids Need to Know About Gender…
03/27/2023In 2023, Connecticut Children’s published a list of reading resources, including explicit and inappropriate material, for children from aged zero…
Read More →Dr. Rachel Levine says changing kids' genders will soon be…
03/16/2023In 2023, US Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine gave a speech at Connecticut Children’s Hospital where Levine praised the…
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