Home / Health / NB: Only Atlantic province without gender clinic
NB: Only Atlantic province without gender clinic
13 Mar
Summary
- New Brunswick lacks a centralized gender-affirming care clinic.
- The Transgender Health Network seeks budget funding for a clinic.
- A proposed clinic could cost $2 million annually.
New Brunswick is currently the sole Atlantic Canadian province without a dedicated gender-affirming care clinic. The New Brunswick Transgender Health Network is advocating for provincial government funding to establish such a clinic, aiming for inclusion in the 2026-27 budget, due March 17.
Dr. Kathleen Taylor, a member of the network and a family physician providing gender-affirming care, highlighted the lack of centralized services. She estimates the clinic's cost at approximately $2 million, a small fraction of the province's health-care spending. The proposed clinic would centralize services like hormone therapy, surgery referrals, and mental health support.
Currently, only three primary-care physicians and two nurse practitioners in New Brunswick offer gender-affirming services covered by Medicare. This scarcity results in lengthy wait times for patients like Raye Organ, who experienced significant delays in accessing treatments and experienced mental health challenges due to gender dysphoria and system navigation.
Taylor emphasized that establishing the clinic would be cost-effective in the long run, preventing crises that lead to more expensive emergency room visits. The initiative is seen as a crucial step in supporting the province's 2SLGBTQ+ population and ensuring their safety and access to necessary care.
