Mission
The mission of the UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital Gender Institute is to deliver compassionate, high-quality, and affordable health services to transgender patients and their families. To improve the quality of life of our transgender patients, we work tirelessly with our community to assess needs and identify gaps in care. Additionally, we are guided by The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, utilizing their standards of care to ensure that we offer ethical and high quality care that is individualized and patient-centered.
History
UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital (SFMH) has been an active member of the LGBTQA+ community for decades. Our community involvement began in the 80's during the AIDS Crisis. Between the hospital and our philanthropic foundation, we were able to create HIV Care, a center of excellence for HIV/AIDS research and treatment serving our local San Francisco community. Our commitment to serving the LGBTQA+ community continues today as we provide crucial gender-affirming surgeries from expert surgeons to our transgender patients who often face incredible barriers to healthcare. With the intention of providing the best medical care possible, we created the UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital Gender Institute, a council of transgender health experts and collaborators who continuously assess needs and identify gaps in care.
Timeline
1966: Dr. Edward Falces performs the first transgender surgery in the United States at UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital in San Francisco. Dr. Lesley Hovey, Dr. James Kauth and Dr. Doug Ousterhout followed in performing surgeries for transgendered patients.
2016: The UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital Gender Institute is established.
2019: UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital hosts San Francisco's first medical conference on transgender health, marking the public launch of its Gender Institute with transgender care-only surgeons.
2020: UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital earns an "LGBTQ Health Care Quality Leader" designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC)
2021: UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital nurse receives a Transgender Certified Care specialization. UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital achieves center of excellence in gender confirmation surgery accreditation from the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC). To date, Saint Francis remains the first hospital in the United States and internationally to receive this designation and Dr. Wittenberg, Medical Director for the Gender Institute has been recognized as a Master Surgeon by the SRC.
2022: UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital continues to achieve an "LGBTQ+ Health Care Quality Leader" designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC)
2024: UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital achieves the prestigious "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" designation, earning a perfect score of 100 on the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) 2024 survey. This recognition reflects the hospital's unwavering commitment to excellence in delivering LGBTQ+ care, meeting every HEI criterion and providing transgender-inclusive health care benefits for its employees.
The same year, UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital achieved a significant milestone by earning SRC recertification in gender-affirming surgery. This prestigious credential included the recertification and recognition of three master surgeons in gender-affirming surgery and the accreditation of three additional surgeons, bringing the total to six SRC-accredited surgeons. This accomplishment underscores the hospital's unwavering commitment to excellence in providing comprehensive and compassionate care to the transgender community. Through these achievements, UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital continues to set the standard for high-quality, patient-centered care in gender-affirming surgery.