Pullman hospital to allow gender surgery

Pullman Regional Hospital officially committed to offering gender reassignment surgeries to its patients Wednesday evening in a unanimous vote by the hospital's board of commissioners.

Despite the affirmative vote, when the hospital will actually offer the service to its patients remains unclear.

Hospital CEO Scott Adams told the Daily News a surgeon has yet to apply for privileges to conduct the surgery.

The hospital began accepting public input on whether it should offer the service over the summer, after one of its surgeons, Dr. Geoff Stiller, decided to expand his training to include below-the-waist gender reassignment surgeries.

Stiller performed two such surgeries over the summer under the supervision of other trained doctors. He currently remains in training, Adams said.

In a report to the board, hospital staff issued a recommendation for the hospital to both offer the surgery and to support an integrated approach for caring for people with gender dysphoria.

"We have gained understanding about some of the challenges of people with gender dysphoria receiving care, the many gaps in services available, and the polarizing nature of these issues," the report reads.

The hospital anticipates receiving revenue of $864,000 per year from the service, assuming an average of two patients get the surgery every month, according to the report.

The hospital has the capacity in its operating and inpatient rooms to perform two surgeries per week if necessary.

But including deductions and contractual write-offs, the hospital's expenses from the surgery would exceed revenue by $49,200 per year, assuming a surgeon performs two surgeries per month.

"Truly this is not a money-making procedure, but many of the procedures we do are not always money makers," commissioner Margaret Werre said.

The hospital is not anticipating additional salary or wage costs. It will not need to add space to accommodate the service beyond current planned expansion, and no new costs are anticipated for furniture, fixtures or other equipment.

The board received 2,074 responses in support of providing the surgery, 383 opposed and 65 with no direct statement of support during an official public comment period between June 7 and July 3. Those numbers include electronic and hard-copy signatures submitted in three separate petitions to the hospital.

The comments include ones from Pullman Regional Hospital doctors. A June Lewiston Tribune report revealed three doctors supported offering the surgery in their comments to the board - Dr. Kim Guida, Dr. Juan Parra and Dr. Stephanie Fosback.

Dr. Heidi Abraham, an emergency room physician, wrote to the board that she is "deeply disturbed" about gender reassignment surgeries being offered at the hospital, calling it akin to genital mutilation and the removal of healthy organs.

Taylor Nadauld can be reached at (208) 883-4630, by email to tnadauld@dnews.com and on Twitter @tnadauldauld.