Hartford, Conn.-based Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has agreed to stop performing gender-affirming procedures on minors as part of agreements with the Department of Justice.
Under the agreement, Connecticut Children’s committed to not administering puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, or performing gender-affirming surgeries, on minors. The hospital also agreed to pay an undisclosed monetary penalty and dedicate $500,000 in medical care for patients affected by prior gender-affirming treatment.
Connecticut Children’s denied all allegations, and the Justice Department acknowledged the health system’s cooperation throughout the investigation.
“We can confirm we have reached a resolution that allows our organization to remain focused on our mission of improving the health and well-being of children,” the system said in a statement to Becker’s. “Most importantly, patient privacy remained our foremost concern throughout this process, and we were able to resolve this matter without disclosing any protected patient information to the U.S. government.”
Connecticut Children’s added that it “has complied and will continue to comply with all federal and state laws.”
The agreement is the latest in the Justice Department’s ongoing national investigation into hospitals’ provision of pediatric gender-affirming care, following similar resolutions with Houston-based Texas Children’s Hospital in May and Cleveland Clinic in June.
Texas Children’s full settlement was also released Aug. 5, providing new details on the system’s
obligations to track patient data tied to gender dysphoria diagnoses and care, a stipulation that was not included in Cleveland Clinic’s settlement. The agreement requires Texas Children’s to build a “Break the Glass” list, detailing every patient who’s been diagnosed with gender dysphoria in their records, plus a supplemental list for patients with other certain diagnosis codes potentially related to gender-affirming care. Both lists must be refreshed monthly, and no patient may be removed once added, even if their diagnosis code later changes. Texas Children’s chief compliance officer must review the lists annually, and the hospital must retain both for 10 years.
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