Saskatoon clinic resolves to improve access for transgender people

It's a first for transgender health care in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatoon Community Clinic has adopted a resolution to improve access to health care for gender diverse and transgender people.

Miki Mappin brought the motion forward at the clinic's semi- annual meeting in January. She said she and other transgender people face barriers when seeking health care, including medical professionals who lack the knowledge or skills to support transgender people, professionals who refuse to treat them and disrespectful admissions procedures.

"Of course I'd have to go through the whole intake procedure and yeah I'd be sitting there in the waiting room and somebody would call out Mr. Bantjes would you please come up," Mappin said. "It's embarrassing and I think for some people it's devastating."

The Saskatoon Community Clinic said, in the next couple of months, it will start a review of procedures and provide education to employees about respectful and appropriate treatment of transgender people.

The President of the clinic, Ann Doucette, said the clinic will focus on areas including intake procedures, medical care and counselling.

"We'll have to develop a plan," Doucette said. "So there will be teaching sessions, there will be educationals, there will be memos, there will be everything, any way you can get the information out. That's how we'll do it."

Mappin said she's elated that the clinic adopted her resolution. She hopes other clinics do the same. 

"At the worst, extreme doctors or other professionals will refuse to deal with a transgender individual or will either inadvertently or though some prejudices that they have treat them in a way that's quite demeaning," she said.