Weeks after suddenly canceling all gender-affirming surgeries with a highly regarded doctor, UMass Memorial Health has started transferring patients to another surgical team who will offer the procedure.
Some patients say the Worcester hospital has told them they'll have the opportunity to rebook their vaginoplasties, known as bottom surgeries. The physicians on the new team will replace Dr. Ashley Alford, who had specialized in the operation over the past two years and had gained a reputation among patients as a premier vaginoplasty surgeon in New England.
Starting in late January, UMass Memorial abruptly notified all of Alford's patients that her appointments and surgeries had been canceled without providing any further explanation or opportunity to reschedule. Many patients had waited years for the opportunity to undergo bottom surgery and feel comfortable with their bodies.
The lack of clarity left them scrambling and fueled fears that the hospital was shutting down its vaginoplasty program as the Trump administration pressures medical providers to stop engaging in gender-affirming care.
While patients now appreciate that UMass Memorial will continue offering bottom surgeries, they say the hospital has mishandled their care and lost their trust. They're demanding more transparency into what happened to Alford and why her appointments were suddenly called off. Some patients speculate that the hospital decided to stop offering bottom surgeries but then reversed course in response to pushback.
"I feel like the hospital has a long way to re-earn that trust," said Kara Earp, whose operation with Alford was scheduled for April. "Having that surgery ripped out from under me when I was so close to getting it was so devastating."
Earp has scheduled a consultation with a vaginoplasty surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Even though UMass Memorial is a short drive from her home in Worcester, she now prefers the hourlong commute to Boston for her gender-affirming care.
In a statement, UMass Memorial Health said Alford has taken a personal leave of absence and confirmed that the new surgical team will provide gender-affirming care to her patients going forward. The hospital said it's in the process of transferring patients over.
"UMass Memorial Health is committed to ensuring these comprehensive, evidence-based health care services remain available to adults in our community in support of their emotional and physical well-being," the hospital's statement said.
Alford did not respond to a request for comment. According to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, her medical license is in good standing with no record of infractions or malpractice claims.
She performed UMass Memorial's first gender-affirming vaginoplasty in 2024 — the first known surgery of its kind at a Massachusetts hospital outside of Boston. Surveys show that transgender people particularly struggle to access gender-affirming care outside of major city centers.
The two new physicians replacing Alford are Drs. Stephanie Preston and Richard Yu. According to his LinkedIn, Yu has worked as a urologist at Boston Children's Hospital since 2007. Preston specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery at UMass Memorial.
Avery is another patient whose gender-affirming vaginoplasty was abruptly canceled. GBH News agreed to use a pseudonym due to her fear of repercussions for speaking publicly. Avery said Preston recently called her to introduce herself and answer questions. She said Preston told her that she's helped perform more than 20 bottom surgeries in the past and will use the same advanced surgical technique as Alford.
"[Dr. Preston isn't] as experienced as Dr. Alford, and she was upfront about that," Avery said. "What I was able to get clarity on was that she's not just some random surgeon."
Avery has a consultation scheduled with Preston in early March and another consultation at Beth Israel in April. She's inclined to have the surgery at UMass Memorial as long as the hospital can offer her a surgery date that's sooner than what Beth Israel has available.
"This surgery is so important to me," she said. "What I will say is I still do not trust UMass. Until I'm on the surgical table, I don't have a whole lot of confidence in them."
Other patients expressed similar reservations and called UMass Memorial's handling of Alford's unavailability inexcusable. Rebecca, who asked that GBH only include her first name fearing repercussions for speaking out, said she understands the hospital may have needed time to figure out how to replace Alford. But she added that UMass Memorial should have at least been more upfront about the future of the vaginoplasty program.
Rebecca already underwent a vaginoplasty with Alford, and has since experienced a common complication called hypergranulation that Alford started treating. But with Alford no longer seeing patients, Rebecca hasn't received additional treatment and her condition has worsened, fueling anxiety that it could become a long-term problem.
She spent the past three weeks seeking help from UMass Memorial, but the hospital wouldn't refer her to another physician. She said she was only recently able to schedule an appointment to see Preston.
"At the minimum, it seems like a lack of communication was unnecessary and they could have been more open with what's going on," Rebecca said. "They could have said, 'We can't talk about Dr. Alford. However, for patients who have had vaginoplasty, we can offer you this for aftercare.'"
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