Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

Health Systems Connecticut Children's

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

501(c)(3)

282 Washington St.
Hartford, CT

3

Total Sex Change Patients

info icon Total unique children who underwent gender-affirming procedures or hormone/puberty blocker therapy.
3

Total Surgery Patients

info icon Total unique children who underwent gender-affirming surgical procedures.
0

Total Hormone and Puberty Blocker Patients

info icon Total unique children who were prescribed puberty blockers or received gender-affirming hormone therapy.

Total Prescriptions Written

info icon Total number of scripts for puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones.
$11,815

Total Submitted Charges

info icon Total amount submitted by providers or pharmacies to insurance for services, treatments, or prescriptions, before any reviews or adjustments. Includes medical procedures and prescription charges but may not reflect the final amount after negotiations.

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.

National Review

Connecticut Children’s Hospital Creating Portal for Out-of-State Kids to Pursue…

10/24/2023

In October 2023, it was reported Connecticut Children's was developing a portal that will connect kids from states where gender…

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Connecticut Children's

Gender Pronouns Matter: What Kids Need to Know About Gender…

03/27/2023

In 2023, Connecticut Children’s published a list of reading resources, including explicit and inappropriate material, for children from aged zero…

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Fox News

Dr. Rachel Levine says changing kids' genders will soon be…

03/16/2023

In 2023, US Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine gave a speech at Connecticut Children’s Hospital where Levine praised the…

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