Kimberley
05-19-2008, 02:28 PM
The girls of Ontario desparately NEED your HELP!!!
The Ontario Government has announced it will resume funding for SRS in the province. The formal announcement has yet to be made so there is still time to avert a catastrophe. First you must understand that the Ontario Minister of Health is gay so he is sympathetic to our cause, just not well educated in it.
The announcement last week stated the following:
1) The ministry would only fund 8 to 10 surgeries per year. The cost is $20,000 each.
2) The CAMH (Center for Addiction and Mental Health – Former Clarke Institute (of horrors)) will be the gatekeeper for the approval process.
The Issues:
1) Ontario is a huge province. For a t-gurl in Dryden she would have to travel 1000 miles to Toronto for “treatment” at the CAMH
2) The surgery is revenue neutral because every girl who gets it is one who is removed from the government social support system. The cost is moot.
3) Dr. Ray Blanchard who is the founder of the Autogynephilia Theory heads the gender program at the CAMH. This theory is largely rejected by the medical/psychological community as well as ours.
4) Dr. Ken Zucker is the psychologist in chief of the Gender program at CAMH. He is widely known for practicing Repartative Theory which has been totally rejected by all psychiatric and psychological organizations.
5) There are many psychiatrists and psychologists in Ontario capable of meeting the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care for Transgender Health as laid out by WPATH. Their qualifications and experience are impeccable. Their treatment protocols are current. Why is this being overlooked?
6) Funding could be placed into an escrow account for the approved “patient” so s/he could seek the surgeon of his or her choice; often at a cost less than $20,000. This would actually save money.
7) If past treatment protocols are used by the CAMH, they are seriously out of step with current approaches for transgender care.
8) The "Institute" boasts that it rejects 75% of all its patients. No one would seek SRS on a whim or out of curiosity. How can this be justified?
9) A large volume of anecdotal evidence of past experience of contact with these people (Blanchard and Zucker) reveals they have probably done more damage than good with their so-called treatment protocols.
Please write to our Minister of Health outlining the issues and concerns so that past mistakes are not repeated. You will have to necessarily include your legal name and address for the letter to have any weight.
He needs to get the message that the government is about to make a large mistake even though it is apparently but unknowingly acting in our best interests. The world, not just Ontario is watching.
Further emphasis could be made of the fact that this is as much a Human Rights issue as it is a medical one.
You can write to him at:
The Honourable George Smitherman MPP
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
80 Grosvenor St. 10th Floor, Hepburn Block
Toronto, Ontario. M7A 2C4
gsmitherman.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Please help us!!! It will take only a few minutes of your time and help a lot of people who have been denied transgender healthcare for the past 10 years and poor or damaging care for 30 years prior.
:hugs:
Kimberley
The Ontario Government has announced it will resume funding for SRS in the province. The formal announcement has yet to be made so there is still time to avert a catastrophe. First you must understand that the Ontario Minister of Health is gay so he is sympathetic to our cause, just not well educated in it.
The announcement last week stated the following:
1) The ministry would only fund 8 to 10 surgeries per year. The cost is $20,000 each.
2) The CAMH (Center for Addiction and Mental Health – Former Clarke Institute (of horrors)) will be the gatekeeper for the approval process.
The Issues:
1) Ontario is a huge province. For a t-gurl in Dryden she would have to travel 1000 miles to Toronto for “treatment” at the CAMH
2) The surgery is revenue neutral because every girl who gets it is one who is removed from the government social support system. The cost is moot.
3) Dr. Ray Blanchard who is the founder of the Autogynephilia Theory heads the gender program at the CAMH. This theory is largely rejected by the medical/psychological community as well as ours.
4) Dr. Ken Zucker is the psychologist in chief of the Gender program at CAMH. He is widely known for practicing Repartative Theory which has been totally rejected by all psychiatric and psychological organizations.
5) There are many psychiatrists and psychologists in Ontario capable of meeting the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care for Transgender Health as laid out by WPATH. Their qualifications and experience are impeccable. Their treatment protocols are current. Why is this being overlooked?
6) Funding could be placed into an escrow account for the approved “patient” so s/he could seek the surgeon of his or her choice; often at a cost less than $20,000. This would actually save money.
7) If past treatment protocols are used by the CAMH, they are seriously out of step with current approaches for transgender care.
8) The "Institute" boasts that it rejects 75% of all its patients. No one would seek SRS on a whim or out of curiosity. How can this be justified?
9) A large volume of anecdotal evidence of past experience of contact with these people (Blanchard and Zucker) reveals they have probably done more damage than good with their so-called treatment protocols.
Please write to our Minister of Health outlining the issues and concerns so that past mistakes are not repeated. You will have to necessarily include your legal name and address for the letter to have any weight.
He needs to get the message that the government is about to make a large mistake even though it is apparently but unknowingly acting in our best interests. The world, not just Ontario is watching.
Further emphasis could be made of the fact that this is as much a Human Rights issue as it is a medical one.
You can write to him at:
The Honourable George Smitherman MPP
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
80 Grosvenor St. 10th Floor, Hepburn Block
Toronto, Ontario. M7A 2C4
gsmitherman.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Please help us!!! It will take only a few minutes of your time and help a lot of people who have been denied transgender healthcare for the past 10 years and poor or damaging care for 30 years prior.
:hugs:
Kimberley