LGBTQIA+ community reacts to closure of gender clinic at Tacoma children’s hospital

TACOMA, Wash. — Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma is shuttering its clinic that provides gender-affirming care.

MultiCare Health System claims the move to stop treating gender dysphoria comes amid mounting pressure from Trump’s federal government. However, LGBTQIA+ advocates believe the health system is closing the doors to Pierce County residents too soon.

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MultiCare Health System, in a statement, explained it tried to find options to stay open, but is ultimately making what it calls an “incredibly painful decision” to wrap up services this week to avoid being penalized or investigated by the federal government.

A spokesperson confirmed the clinic has been serving approximately 320 patients, including 180 people under the age of 18.

Officials say giving gender-care-related medical treatment to minors puts them at risk for government investigation and enforcement, like cutting off Medicare and Medicaid payments to MultiCare’s entire health system.

Nearly three-quarters of MultiCare patients depend on Medicare and Medicaid.

“Loss of this funding not only undermines MultiCare’s ability to operate, but more critically, threatens patients’ access to essential care in every region that MultiCare offers care,” the statement read.

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However, the executive director for the Rainbow Center, which provides LGBTQIA advocacy and supportive programming in Tacoma, said she believes MultiCare’s decision to close was premature, and that the health system may have received help from grants or the private sector to stay open if the feds do cut funding.

“There was no threat to them losing funding; it was just a preemptive strike,” Executive Director Joanne Levy told KOMO News. ” They have left families and marginalized communities completely vulnerable and at risk.”

“It was incredibly disappointing, especially right now where there are so limited options for trans youth to be able to get services and assistance,” Rainbow Center Education Manager Mary Woodard added. “Why that is so important for youth is they are able to get puberty blockers or hormone blockers that are able to pause their physical development until they are able to make some better decisions about their body.”

Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and MultiCare are still providing behavioral healthcare.

“Gender-affirming care for adolescents and adults remains legal and protected in Washington state.” AG’s office Spokesperson Mike Faulk wrote in an emailed statement. “While the Trump administration has continued to pressure hospitals to cease the provision of this life-saving care, no law or rule currently in effect bans gender-affirming care for anyone. The attorney general has and will continue to protect everyone’s access to health care from the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks.”

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown sued the Trump administration in early 2025 over an executive order that would block federal funding for pediatric gender-affirming care, as KOMO has reported. A federal judge in Seattle ruled that executive order is discriminatory, and there is a preliminary injunction in place that blocks the order.