The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System will soon become the fourth in the country with special clinic hours for transgender veterans, those who were born male but identify as female, or vice versa.
The new clinic is the latest of many changes that began in 2011 when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ordered all its medical facilities to take better care of such patients.
Before that, discrimination was not uncommon, said Dr. Sonia Perez-Padilla, who heads the local VA’s transgender treatment team.
Most VA employees had no training in the needs of transgender patients, and some felt uncomfortable being around them, she said.
Today, many training sessions later, the situation is much better, she said, but there still may be some employees who don’t understand that being transgender “is not a choice. It’s something innate.”
Tucson’s veterans hospital is now recognized by the VA as a national center of excellence for transgender care, she said.
The VA now routinely provide treatments such as hormone therapy, mental-health care and pre- and post-operative care for sex-change surgery. The surgery itself still isn’t covered, though Perez-Padilla thinks it will be eventually.
The new clinic, which launches Wednesday afternoon, provides a place where patients can see a pharmacist, a physician, a psychologist and others experienced in transgender care — all in a single hospital visit. Details are available by calling 629-4885.
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