Gender Affirming Health Program

About Gender Affirming Health Program

What is Gender Affirming Health Program?

Gender Affirming Health Program is UCSF Health's multidisciplinary transgender care clinic, based at 1725 Montgomery St, Suite 250, in San Francisco. It is a university medical program, not a med spa or a standalone hormone clinic, and hormone therapy is one piece of a larger practice that also covers primary care, gender affirming surgery, psychiatry and mental health, voice and speech therapy, fertility, and pelvic pain and sexual health.

Hormone therapy consultations are handled by Maddie Deutsch, MD MPH, Sen Nguyen, MD, Son Quyen Dinh, MD, and Abby Cobb-Walch, MD. Patients can be seen for hormone therapy alone or alongside primary care, and the clinic notes that patients being managed for hormones only are strongly advised to keep an outside primary care provider. Many visits can be done by video. Beyond standard estrogen and testosterone regimens, the program offers testosterone long acting pellets (Testopel), with Dr. Deutsch placing the pellets in the office, as well as the long acting testosterone injection Aveed and long acting cabotegravir (Apretude) for HIV prevention.

In its own words: "Our coordinated team brings physicians and experts in primary care, hormone therapy, surgery, psychiatry, voice therapy, and social work together to serve the needs of trans, non-binary, and gender expansive people."

What does it cost?

No prices are published for consultations, hormone therapy management, pellet placement, or any of the injections named. There is also nothing stated about whether insurance is accepted or how a cash-pay visit would be billed. Anyone considering this clinic should ask directly what a hormone therapy consultation costs, whether follow-up visits and labs are billed separately, and whether insurance is taken for any part of care, since this is a university health system and not a flat-fee subscription clinic.

What should you ask before you book?

Ask which of the four listed prescribers you would actually be seeing, since hormone therapy here is split among Dr. Deutsch, Dr. Nguyen, Dr. Dinh, and Dr. Cobb-Walch, and their backgrounds differ (two are primary care trained, one is an endocrinologist). Ask whether pellet placement (Testopel) is available only with Dr. Deutsch or with others on the team as well. Ask what a video visit costs compared to an in-person one, what lab work is required before and during treatment, and whether you'll need to establish primary care separately if you're only being seen for hormones. Since no pricing or insurance policy is published, ask directly how billing works and what out-of-pocket costs to expect before your first visit.

Who is it a good fit for?

This is a good fit for someone who wants hormone therapy delivered through an academic medical center with a full team of named physicians and a built-in referral path to surgery, psychiatry, voice therapy, and fertility services, rather than a single-purpose hormone clinic. It is less suited to someone who wants published flat-rate pricing up front, since none is listed and that needs to be worked out directly with the clinic.

Sources: transcare.ucsf.edu, transcare.ucsf.edu/hormone-therapy

Services Offered

Location