Following the move by two of metro Denver’s biggest hospital groups, Children’s Hospital Colorado also decided to halt gender transition services for minors to comply with an order from the Trump administration.

Specifically, the hospital said it would no longer offer puberty blockers and hormonal treatment to patients. Instead, the hospital said it would now only provide behavioral health services and “supportive care services” to transgender patients.

“Due to a recent executive order issued by the White House, Children’s Hospital Colorado must modify our model of care for providing puberty blockers and other hormone-based gender-affirming care treatments,” a spokesperson for the hospital said. “After thorough and thoughtful consideration, Children’s Colorado will continue to provide care for patients through behavioral health and supportive care services once approved prescriptions for current patients expire.”

Children’s Hospital Colorado said it has never provided gender transition surgical services for patients under the age of 18.

The hospital also cited the threat of losing federal funding for its decision.  

“The executive order threatens Children’s Hospital Colorado’s ability to receive federal healthcare funds that support the care of hundreds of thousands of patients,” the hospital said. “Like other hospitals across the country, we will continue to assess the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. We care deeply about our gender-diverse patients and their families, and we will carefully and responsibly support them as we evolve the model of care we offer.”

The White House has described surgical procedures and hormonal treatment as the irreversible “chemical and surgical mutilation” of children.

Last week, Denver Health and UCHealth also announced they would comply with Trump’s order. The move is the latest indication of how Trump’s orders — from immigration to trade to “diversity, equity and inclusion” — have begun to reshape the operations of local entities that rely on federal funding. In particular, the Trump administration is using its funding leverage to immediately change the conduct of institutions that receive federal dollars even in states like Colorado, where Democrats control the levers of power.         

The new administration’s order said medical professionals are “maiming and sterilizing” impressionable young children by performing irreversible surgical and chemical interventions by providing them with “puberty blockers”  — drugs that suppress sex hormones during puberty — or performing sex change operations. 

“This dangerous trend will be a stain on our nation’s history, and it must end,” the order said. 

The White House mandated federal agencies that provide grants to medical institutions, including schools and hospitals, to take steps to ensure the latter end their gender transition programs for individuals 19 years and younger.

Denver Health received $792 million in combined funding from Medicare and Medicaid, which accounted for more than half of the healthcare system’s revenue in 2023.

Losing that portion of federal funding could cripple the city’s largest safety-net system, according to hospital officials.

UCHealth is also modifying its protocols to comply with the order.

Prior to Trump’s order, the hospital system offered gender transition services to individuals who are 18 and older.

UCHealth will now only offer those services to people who are 19 and older.

Supporters of gender transition for children have argued that puberty blockers, for example, have been in use since the 1980s and are “overwhelmingly safe if used appropriately.” Others said “affirming” students’ gender identity can “improve their mental health and academic outcomes.”

Critics of transitioning minors have countered that America is an outlier, with several European countries, after embracing “gender affirming care,” now emphasizing psychological care over the transition of young people. In particular, the National Health Service in England said it will no longer prescribe “puberty blockers” to children and other young people seeking gender transitions, saying there is “not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness.”