For transgender youth in crisis, hospitals sometimes compound the trauma

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina hospital network is referring transgender psychiatric patients to treatment facilities that do not align with their gender identities. Though UNC Hospitals’ policy discourages the practice, administrators say a massive bed shortage is forcing them to make tough decisions. Psychiatrists say long wait times in the emergency room give them no choice but to place patients in the next available bed. When North Carolina lawmakers allocated $835 million to shore up mental health infrastructure in 2023, none of the money was specifically allocated to the treatment needs of trans patients. A lack of funding and the absence of uniform treatment standards across the state’s hospitals are combining with shortcomings in staff training to create barriers to treating transgender youth.