Katherine Gardner
Ph.D.
LA County Department of Health Services (DHS)
Katherine Gardner
Dr. Katherine Gardner is a family medicine physician by training. Since 2021, Dr. Gardner worked as lead of the new Gender Health Program at LA County Department of Health Services where they are involved in program development as well as clinical care. LA County Department of Health Services' Gender Health Program provides gender affirming medical services to people of all ages, including youth in foster care. Dr. Gardner has worked in a variety of settings providing gender affirming medical care: academic with UC Davis Health System, private with Sutter Medical Group in Northern California and community based at the Gender Health Center in Sacramento, California.
SESSION OVERVIEW
LA County Panel: Affirming Care through the Public Sector: Past, Present, and Future
Join us as we navigate through three of LA County’s complex and inter-related systems of care and their services for Transgender, Gender Diverse or Intersex young people. Through this journey, participants will learn how the Departments of Mental Health (DMH), Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Health Services (DHS) have served as a safety net and perpetuated barriers and disparities for some of LA County’s most marginalized individuals and communities. Despite the challenges and traumas inherent to navigating government-funded sectors, these systems are in the process of meaningful culture change toward equity and justice for gender diverse young people. Together, will travel to the present to see how LA County’s healthcare and social services are undergoing a transformation, and we will collectively envision a future that includes a more inclusive and affirming public sector system of care for all communities.