Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford

Health Systems Stanford Children's Health

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford

501(c)(3)

725 Welch Rd.
Palo Alto, CA

157

Total Sex Change Patients

info icon Total unique children who underwent gender-affirming procedures or hormone/puberty blocker therapy.
73

Total Surgery Patients

info icon Total unique children who underwent gender-affirming surgical procedures.
94

Total Hormone and Puberty Blocker Patients

info icon Total unique children who were prescribed puberty blockers or received gender-affirming hormone therapy.
846

Total Prescriptions Written

info icon Total number of scripts for puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones.
$4,479,753

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.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is a nonprofit hospital located in Palo Alto, California that is part of Stanford Medicine. The hospital operates the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic that provides minors with hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex change surgeries. Moreover, the hospital adheres to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s standards of care. Claims data shows the hospital has billed for hormone therapy and gender 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 Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital does not list any “gender-affirming care or related services.” However, according to a November 2020 case study, Stanford Medicine’s Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic is located at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

The clinic provides “medical services for gender nonconforming youths and their families in one central location.” Services provided by the gender clinic “include help with social, medical and legal transition.”

Patients at the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic “learn about their options for gender affirming medical treatments, including puberty blockers and gender affirming hormones.” Patients considered for treatment include “transgender and gender diverse children, adolescents, and young adults.” Additionally, the gender clinic “will see younger children before puberty starts.”

The Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic offers “top surgery” to “adolescents and young adults.”

In Spring 2017, Stanford Magazine published a story of a 14-year-old patient that came out as transgender and later began taking puberty blockers prescribed through the gender clinic. The founder of the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic, Dr. Tandy Aye, stated that “kids really feel they’ve been born into the wrong body” and that going “through the wrong puberty can be psychologically devastating.” Aye stated that “kids can receive pubertal blockers as soon as any signs of puberty start.”

In November 2020, Stanford Medicine published a case study of a 13-year-old transgender patient that received “legal help to change her name” and started “gender-affirming therapy with hormones” through the “the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.”

In January 2022, Stanford Medicine published a study claiming that better mental health outcomes were found in transgender patients that began receiving “gender-affirming” hormones as teens.

In October 2023, Dr. Karthik Balakrishnan, the Surgeon-in-Chief at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital gave a presentation on “safe, effective gender-affirming surgery in an adolescent-young adult.” The presentation claimed this work was “especially relevant given the recent wave of transphobic legislation in multiple states banning access to gender-affirming care for children, adolescents, and young adults.”

In September 2023, Balakrishnan co-authored a study on “gender expression in a web-based survey” that claimed the findings would “meaningfully inform patient counseling and surgical planning for gender-affirming interventions.”

In 2023, Dr. Mary Leonard, the Physician-in-Chief at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, co-authored an article titled “Comparisons of body composition and muscle strength between transgender adolescents and cisgender controls.”

In a November 2023 interview, Dr. Dennis Lund, Chief Medical Officer at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, claimed that political forces were trying to “derail” funding for children’s hospital graduate medical education due to gender-affirming care and claimed “we really shouldn’t be looking to have politics drive the medical care that we are delivering for the children in this country.”

An October 2022, an article by the Daily Wire tracking hospitals and clinics that were promoting transgender services to children included Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Sex Change Treatments Offered

Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital does not list any “gender-affirming care or related services.”

However, according to a November 2020 case study, Stanford Medicine’s Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic is located at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

“Rose’s family needed help understanding what it means to be transgender—when a person’s assigned sex doesn’t match identified gender. It was important to Rose’s mom to seek care from a comprehensive clinic led by doctors. She chose the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, where a team of experts in pediatric endocrinology, adolescent medicine, OB/GYN, psychiatry, psychology, urology, and plastic surgery provide all-around care for gender-expansive youth.”

Stanford Medicine’s Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic “provides medical services for gender nonconforming youths and their families in one central location.”

Locations of Stanford Health’s Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic do not include Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Patients at the Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic “learn about their options for gender affirming medical treatments,” including:
  • Puberty blockers
  • Gender-affirming” hormones

Patients considered for treatment include “transgender and gender diverse children, adolescents, and young adults.” Additionally, the gender clinic “will see younger children before puberty starts.”

The Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic performs “top surgery.”

“Everyone deserves to have their physical body reflect their gender identity. Aligning the two brings peace of mind and gives gender diverse youth solid footing for stepping out into the world. We understand that making the life-altering decision to have top surgery isn’t simple. We’re here to answer all of your questions and to guide you through the process from start to finish. Our skilled plastic surgeons pay meticulous attention to both form and function. In other words, they use advanced techniques to not just transform the chest but also create a natural and pleasing look and feel so that teens can move confidently through life and feel proud of their appearance.”

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health offers reconstructive chest surgery to “adolescents and young adults.”

“At Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, we offer reconstructive chest surgery to adolescents and young adults from board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeons with advanced training and exceptional approaches to top surgery. We remove breast tissue and excess skin to create a masculine-looking chest. Top surgery is more than simply removing tissue. It includes careful contouring of muscle and nipple to create a pleasing, natural-looking chest. We offer two types of top surgery, determined by a teen’s unique shape.”

 

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
Paul A. King President & CEO of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health $2,396,216
Marcie A. Atchison, JD Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resource Officer $554,843
Karthik Balakrishnan, MD, MPH Surgeon-in-Chief at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital N/A
Jesus Cepero, PhD Chief Nursing Officer, Senior Vice President Patient Care Services $615,858
Yasser Y. El-Sayed, MD Obstetrician-in-Chief N/A
Dana Haering Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer $982,191
Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Director, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute $843,386
Rick Idemoto Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer $650,887
Grace Lee, MD Chief Quality Officer N/A
Les Lifter Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer N/A
Dennis Lund, MD Chief Medical Officer $1,007,023
Rick Majzun Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer $1,111,420
Joyce Sackey, MD, FACP Chief Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer N/A
Jill Sullivan, RN Senior Vice President of Strategic Space Planning & General Services $554,706
Tanya Townsend Senior Vice President, Chief Information & Digital Officer N/A
Chantal Volel-Torres Chief Administrative Officer & Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Operations and CEO of Packard Children’s Health Alliance N/A

The current leadership/titles are based on the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health leadership website, but the compensation information is from the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford 2022 Form 990, filed 7/13/23.

Compensation reflects the tax year beginning September 1, 2021, and ending August 31, 2022.

Board of Trustees

Name Title Compensation
Jonathan Coslet Chair $0
Mindy Rogers Vice Chair $0
Michele Sanchez Secretary $147,146

The current leadership/titles are based on the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health board of directors website, but the compensation information is from the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford 2022 Form 990, filed 7/13/23.

Compensation reflects the tax year beginning September 1, 2021, and ending August 31, 2022.

In the News

Stay up to date with the latest news and updates.

Stanford Medicine

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01/12/2022

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Stanford Medicine

Girl in Bloom: The Story of a Teen’s Transition

11/30/2020

• In November 2020, Stanford Medicine published a case study of a 13-year-old transgender patient that received “legal help to…

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