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New York’s largest hospital, New York-Presbyterian, has removed references to gender-affirming care for young people from its website and won’t address questions about those services, days after a presidential order threatening federal funding to hospitals.
New York-Presbyterian’s COMPASS program provided services including “puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormone treatment,” according to an archived version of its website from last summer, which described COMPASS as a “safe space for youth navigating their gender experience.”
On Friday, the program website was unavailable when THE CITY tried to access it. The site was back online by Monday, but no longer included the words “transgender” or “gender-diverse children” in the program description. The site also removed puberty suppression and hormone treatment from the list of its available services.
A spokesperson for New York-Presbyterian said Monday the COMPASS program is still operating but that it made changes to its website in response to last week’s executive order from President Donald Trump that declared hospitals that provide care to transgender youth, including the use of puberty blockers, would be denied federal funds.
“We are working through this developing situation to comply with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. As always, our priority is to serve all our patients in a compassionate and responsible way,” said Angela Karafazi, a senior director of media and public relations for New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
New York-Presbyterian’s backstep comes after parents reported another major New York City hospital, NYU Langone, cancelled gender-transition treatment appointments for young people, according to Hell Gate and the New York Times.
On Monday, state Attorney General Letitia James called Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funding “illegal” and warned health providers Monday that New York’s non-discrimination laws require them to provide gender-affirming care, regardless of the executive order. James and other attorneys general obtained a temporary restraining order Friday against the Trump administration, halting sweeping White House efforts to freeze federal funding it objects to.
New York is one of 16 states, along with Washington, D.C., that have passed shield laws protecting access to gender-affirming treatments, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a non-profit think tank. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed New York’s law in 2023.
The standoff between the Trump administration and the state government puts hospitals in a difficult situation: Risk losing federal funding for failing to comply with the executive order, or face discrimination litigation from the state, said Erin Harrist, director of the LGBTQ+ unit at The Legal Aid Society.
“The Trump administration has even suggested prosecuting providers, and who knows whether they’ll actually do that, but it kind of puts the hospital between a rock and a hard place,” Harrist said. “That said, you can’t stop care for a whole protected group of people.”
Harrist called Trump’s executive order “absurd. It’s obnoxious, it’s harmful, it’s offensive,” adding, “I hope the state and the providers will stand up to this extremely harmful action.”
New York-Presbyterian’s altered website suggests a swift retreat from a March 2022 “message from the chair’s office” that declared a commitment to providing care to transgender youth.
”We will leverage the power of our medical associations and institutions to fight against legislation which threatens their physical and emotional health by limiting access to medically necessary, and potentially lifesaving, care,” said the letter, signed by the head of pediatrics at New York-Presbyterian/WeillCornell Medical Center.
“Instead of remaining silent in the face of divisiveness and angry rhetoric, we will strengthen our resolve to continue providing gender-affirming care to our transgender youth,” the letter continued.
Sallie Permar, the pediatrician-in-chief of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center who signed the letter, declined to comment when reached by phone and hung up.
After THE CITY inquired about the letter, which appeared on the Weill Cornell website, it was no longer online as of Monday afternoon. An archived version is still available. New York-Presbyterian did not respond to questions and calls about why it was removed.
Rosalind Adams is an investigative reporter for THE CITY, where she reports on cannabis legalization. Email her at radams@thecity.nyc. Claudia Irizarry Aponte is a senior reporter covering labor and work for THE CITY. Email her at cirizarry@thecity.nyc.
