Denver Health became the only hospital in the state and one of just a few in the country to offer vaginoplasty surgery. There's a pent-up demand for the gender confirmation procedure in Denver, said surgeon Dr. Chris Carey, with more than 100 on the waitlist. Ellie Klein is one of them.
Klein will be one of Denver Health and Carey's first patients. The 29-year-old software engineer is scheduled for surgery next month, and Carey just started performing the procedure in May. The surgeon has worked with trans patients for nearly three decades. Carey even used to refer patients to Dr. Stanley Biber in Trinidad, long-known as the first and foremost place for early gender confirmation surgeries.
Denver Health expanded its services in 2017 when it opened the LGBT Center of Excellence. So far more than 550 LGBT patients have found care there. The closest medical centers to Denver Health that perform vaginoplasties are in San Francisco, Phoenix and New York.
