We have big GOOD news to share!
WLP’s courageous client successfully expanded and improved access to gender-affirming care in rural Pennsylvania after alleging she was unlawfully denied treatment at Conemaugh Health System, one of the biggest hospital systems in west-central Pennsylvania.
When Maeve Plummer returned home to Johnstown, Pennsylvania after studying abroad, she worried about accessing hormone therapy because, she says, of how the region historically had little trans visibility.
Unfortunately, her fears came true and she encountered barriers to care.
As reported in this article at Assigned Media:
“This all really had a profound impact on my mental health. I was having panic attacks, fixating on how my body was masculinizing, how these effects could be irreversible, permanent, that I would never be able to live as a woman I knew myself to be,” Plummer said.
Plummer said she struggled to find work as the stress escalated and “truly derailed my entire life.” Eventually, she said, she was forced to drive to Pittsburgh, nearly two hours away, to receive care.
Read the rest of the article here.
Thankfully, Plummer reached out for legal help.
Women’s Law Project partnered with Community Justice Project, a state-wide public interest legal aid organization, to represent Plummer in litigation. Plaintiff’s complaint asserted claims under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Prioritizing Systems Reform
From the beginning, Plummer sought and prioritized systemic reforms in addition to personal relief, so that fewer transgender Pennsylvanians would have to go through what she did seeking care.
“The settlement wasn’t just dollars and cents,” Plummer told Assigned Media, “It’s actual work and access and greater inclusion for my community and that’s really priceless. They’re going to educate their professionals, they’re going to have certified providers that can provide or oversee hormone replacement therapy among a multitude of other things.”
“As counsel representing courageous LGBTQ+ clients, we see how the harm of overt discrimination is exacerbated by a lack of competency in providing health care for transgender patients,” said WLP attorney Jackie Perlow, who worked with Community Justice Project in securing the settlement.
The Plan to Improve LGBTQ+ Access & Experience
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, which denies all allegations of wrongdoing, has agreed to engage in a comprehensive, concrete plan to improve the provision of healthcare to LGBTQ+ patients that includes: providing gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender patients through its Family Medical Center; hiring a Healthcare Equity and Patient Experience Navigator to improve healthcare equity and LGBTQ+ patient experiences; undertaking training by The Fenway Institute, a national expert in health and well-being for sexual and gender minorities (SGM); establishing an Equity and Patience Experience Task Force that meets at minimum four times a year; and participating in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), taking practical steps to achieve “Top Performer” tier over the next five years. Conemaugh will also update its virtual and physical environments to be more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ patients.
What’s Next
This win shows the impact one courageous individual can have on powerful systems and institutions, so congratulations to Maeve!
WLP remains committed to using every tool in our arsenal to protect transgender Pennsylvanians, even as politicians put forward discriminatory policies that put the transgender community at risk.
