LIHC Gender Care Program

UPDATE: As a result of staffing changes and a recent increase in client numbers, prospective clients may experience a short wait period before being contacted by the Health Centre. Please be patient as we work through our client waitlist. As always, please ensure your referral form is accurately completed including by your physician. If you are self-referring, you may not be rostered to a family physician in Ontario. As of May 1st, 2024, the estimated wait time is 5-6 months.

PLEASE NOTE: As of April 1st, 2024, regretfully, we are unable to receive referrals for individuals under 16 years of age. Anyone under 16 years of age should be referred to the Gender Pathways Program at London Health Sciences Children’s Hospital.

Welcome to our Gender Care Program

Welcome to the Trans Health Program at the Health Centre. The Trans Health Team specializes in trans and non-binary related health care with wraparound support including physicians, a dedicated program nurse, social workers and other supports as well as referrals to affirming specialists.

Our funding and care model ensures that we can provide care for clients who reside in London, Ontario. If you require care but do not live in London, you can consult your local community health centre or contact Rainbow Health Ontario.

Prospective clients need a referral from their primary care provider (family physician). Those prospective clients that do not have a family doctor are able to self refer. In either case, you or your physician need to complete the Gender Care Referral Form after reviewing the Information for Primary Care Providers (downloadable version).

The wait time form referral to your first visit is generally around two-weeks.

Informed Consent and the Patient-Centred Approach

The current prevailing model used by clinicians to inform health care provision to transgender patients is the World Professional Association of Transgender Health Standards of Care. WPATH is a non-profit health professional body that advocates for “high quality care for transsexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming individuals internationally”. WPATH publishes clinical guidelines for assessing and referring trans people for hormones and transition-related surgeries. The WPATH-SOC is intended to provide clinical guidance, and it is designed to be flexibly interpreted across clinical specialties. Here, the Path to Patient-Centred Care resource provides WPATH-SOC instruction through an informed consent and patient-centred care model.

The Informed Consent Model (ICM) offers a more collaborative and patient-centred approach that addresses debates surrounding exactly how and when trans people should access these gender-affirming medical treatments that persist amongst clinicians and researchers.

Using ICM in gender-affirming medicine allows for trans people to access hormones and transition-related surgeries with self-determination and autonomy, without the need for: a gender dysphoria diagnosis, mandatory pre-transition psychosocial readiness assessments, and unwanted mental health treatments. Visit the Path to Patient-Centred Care to learn more about this approach.

Contact Us

The Trans Health Care team is available by:

Phone at 519-660-0874 ext. 1279

Email at transhealth@lihc.on.ca

Fax at 519-642-1532

Trans Health Care Services

Our Health Centre services include:

– Hormone Replacement Therapy, initiation and dosage titration*

– Blood (serum) monitoring for the therapeutic effect of hormones, and associated known possible common or usual eventualities at prescribed intervals

– Referral for Trans Related Surgery through MOHLTC and surgical services

– Collaboration with Trans affirming surgeons and post Trans related surgical assessment and support

– Mental Health support regarding Transition

– Pubertal suppression (as per Rainbow Health Ontario Guidelines)

– Counseling and support to children/prepubescent adolescents

– Clinical mentoring support to regional partners and services

– Referral to endocrinology – gynecology or other specialties when indicated

– Identification – identity remediation support

*following Guidelines for Gender-Affirming Primary Care with Trans and Non-Binary Patients, produced by Rainbow Health Ontario in collaboration with Sherbourne Health.

Primary Care Collaboration: You, the Team & Your Family Doctor

The London Intercommunity Health Centre’s Trans Health Program operates in collaboration with clients’ own personal medical providers (doctors/nurse practitioners), and as such, only manages aspects of Transgender care.

In 2016, the province deregulated Trans care from the only centralized option at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and placed it where it rightly belongs, in the purview of primary care providers across the province, in an individual’s home communities.

Trans care starts with your primary care provider. To assist you in preparing for this important conversation, we recommend “How Can I Start a Conversation…” published by Rainbow Health Ontario.

If you do not have a family doctor, you can self refer but having an affirming primary care physician is an important part of Trans Health. Health Care Connect assists Ontarians find family physicians and can support you with your search.

Gender Journeys

Gender Journeys is an in-person program, offered in collaboration with London InterCommunity Health Centre, provides a safe space to explore questions of gender identity and belonging.

This group is primarily for individuals age 16+ in the beginning stages of transition, which includes those just thinking about transition and those who may have already taken early steps towards their transition, as well as those who are gender-questioning.

Visit Thames Valley Family Health Centre for more information or visit us online at: https://lihc.on.ca/gender-journeys/