Former San Francisco Doctor Leads Transgender Surgery Program

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A former San Francisco doctor is now the director of the research-based Transgender Surgery and Health Program, which helps patients seeking gender-affirming surgery and healthcare, including those covered by Medi-Cal and Medicare. Maurice Garcia, formerly with UC San Francisco Medical Center, has specialized in gender-affirming surgery for five years.

The new program at Los Angeles-based hospital Cedars-Sinai is one of only two academic medical centers in the Western U.S. that offers gender-affirming genital surgery, Garcia said. The program is staffed by specialists invested in helping members of the transgender community at every stage of their journeys.

The medical center currently offers male-to-female and female-to-male gender-affirming genital surgeries, as well as several other surgical options to best meet patient needs. Patients already have come from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Asia.

“The bedrock of our program is that we’re as committed to follow-up care as we are to patients’ initial care, something for which an academic medical center is ideally suited,” Garcia said in a press release.

Liz Youngs, an Orange County resident, is one patient who has benefited from the program.

Youngs, 50, said he completed her 32-year journey to becoming a woman at Cedars-Sinai.

“I’m complete,” Young said. “I’m finally happy. I’m comfortable with who I am. I have a whole new life ahead of me.”

Cedars-Sinai said the need for transgender services is evident. Recent federal and state population studies estimate that about 1.4 million adults, including 218,000 in California, identify as transgender people, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

Garcia has specialized in gender-affirming surgery for five years. He is an expert in genital surgery as well as male-to-female and female-to-male gender-affirming genital surgery for adults and adolescents. In addition, he provides urologic care to all adults and adolescents.

--Liz Youngs with Dr. Maurice Garcia, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Transgender Surgery and Health Program. Photo courtesy of Cedars-Sinai