Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has announced it will close its long-running Transyouth Health and Development program by July 22, citing mounting legal and financial pressure stemming from the Trump administration’s recent executive actions. The clinic has been run by Johanna Olson-Kennedy who has worked with thousands of patients on sex changes.
The decision comes as the federal government intensifies its scrutiny of controversial gender medical procedures on minors. According to internal communications reviewed by The Los Angeles Times, CHLA’s leadership determined there was “no viable alternative” to closing the clinic if the hospital is to remain operational and continue serving the broader pediatric population of Southern California.
The Transyouth Center, one of the few clinics in the country to offer gender-modifying drugs, hormone therapies, and surgeries to children and teens on public insurance, has faced increasing scrutiny as the federal government moves to stop the controversial procedures.
“Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have made it clear there will be consequences, potentially civil and criminal, for entities pushing irreversible procedures on vulnerable minors,” the hospital wrote to staff.
The decision follows a brief pause earlier this year in CHLA’s provision of hormone therapy to minors, following President Trump’s executive order limiting the use of taxpayer dollars for controversial gender-related procedures on children. That pause was later reversed under pressure from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and California state officials.
But CHLA’s leadership now says the writing is on the wall. “The threats are no longer theoretical,” the hospital said, referencing explicit warnings from federal agencies and law enforcement about potential investigations and enforcement actions.
CHLA is more dependent on public funding than any other pediatric center in California, making it especially vulnerable to changes in federal policy. Around 40 percent of all pediatric beds in Los Angeles are housed at CHLA, and executives say preserving access to care for the largest number of children, particularly low-income and chronically ill kids, must come first.
“CHLA has a responsibility to navigate this complex and uncertain regulatory environment in a way that allows us to remain open as much as possible for as many as possible,” executives wrote. “This painful and difficult decision was driven by the need to safeguard CHLA’s ability to operate amid significant external pressures beyond our control.”
