Alberta Health and Wellness’s ailing communication causes anger
After years of hormone therapy a hysterectomy and surgery removing his breasts Niq Gryphon was devastated when told by Alberta Health and Wellness that his gender reassignment surgery will not be funded by the province.
Several others waiting for gender reassignment surgery say they have been left in the dark by Alberta Health because they can’t get a straight answer about the status of their surgery funding. Even Dr. Lorne Warneke the only doctor in the province authorized to provide gender reassignment referrals doesn’t know which of his patients are eligible for provincial funding nor has he been told if there’s new criteria for selection.
“I don’t know what’s going on” Dr. Warneke says. “You would think that because I am only one person they could get in touch with me before they made the announcement.”
Earlier this month the Alberta government announced that in order to cut $700000 from its budget it would no longer fund gender reassignment surgery. Several days later Alberta Health revised its decision and said it is now limiting surgery funding to only those who are on “the waiting list.”
But when anxious patients called the province about their funding status they were transferred and bounced from department to department and some still don’t know if they will be approved for funding.
As for Gryphon after getting the “runaround” by Alberta Health for a couple of days he was finally told that he was not eligible for funding.
“(The funding cut) is just another step toward the privatization of health care” the 21-year-old says. “Our public health care is what sets us apart from America and that needs to be defended.”
When Gryphon recently phoned Alberta Health and Wellness he was told that only the “backlogged” people who didn’t receive surgery last year would be funded.
According to Dr. Warneke there is a “backlog” of patients because last year’s government funding for gender reassignment ran out in August. In fact just prior to the funding cuts announcements he had drafted a letter to the province asking for more funding so that the number of annual surgeries could be increased from to 22 from 16.
“It’s typical of the government” he says of the confusion adding “And when doctors try to have input we are accused of having our own interests at heart.”
Now others like Jordenne Prescott who is in the process of physically becoming a woman are in limbo unable to get straight answers from Alberta Health. Prescott started hormone treatments four months ago and says her breasts are so developed that if she went out in public without a shirt on she would be charged with indecent exposure.
“I can’t go forward but I can’t go back” she says adding that as a psychology student she can’t afford to pay for the surgery which costs about $18000 for males to physically become females and $60000 for females to males.
“I have no options. I would need to take it out of the mouths of my four kids.”
For Prescott and many others this is not an elective surgery; it is life saving. Before deciding she needed surgery Prescott dealt with depression and eating disorders. “I couldn’t bring myself to commit suicide because of my kids but I did everything I could to shorten my time here” she says. When made the decision to pursue gender reassignment Prescott weighed over 300 pounds.
Gryphon believes the government will ultimately be forced to reinstate funding for gender reassignment surgery. “They just got it back in Ontario after 10 years of fighting. We are fighting for our lives and we are not going to go away” he says.
Warneke can’t understand why the government has chosen to de-list gender reassignment in the wake of Ontario’s re-listing and partial re-listing in British Columbia. “It will result in litigation at a very high cost to the taxpayer” he says.
Both Prescott and Gryphon are determined to fight for what they believe is their constitutional rights. They and dozens of others have registered complaints with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. “This is our home and we deserve access to medical care. Under the Canada Health Act that’s what we’re guaranteed” Gryphon says.
As for Dr. Warneke he continues to advise patients on whether to have surgery which is done in Montreal not Alberta. “It is everyone’s hope that this will blow over.”
When contacted April 21 Alberta Health and Wellness spokesperson Howard May said he doesn’t understand why his department couldn’t tell patients if the province will fund their individual surgeries.
“If you received a letter or an e-mail saying that you are on a wait list then you are covered” he says. “And they will be getting a confirmation of that very shortly.”
