A June report released by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation rated three Harvard affiliates as “Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality.” Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute were among only 27 U.S. institutions to receive perfect scores on an annual survey administered by the HRC Foundation.
These facilities were recognized for providing LGBT cultural competency training for all staff, for explicit policies protecting LGBT patients and employees from discrimination, and for ensuring equal visitation access for same-sex couples and parents.
In Boston, seven facilities, including five HMS affiliates, voluntarily participated in the Healthcare Equality Index 2011, including Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Any facility that participates in this study is showing a level of concern for healthcare equality,” said Paul Guequierre, an HRC spokesman. “The fact that even facilities that do not have perfect scores are participating voluntarily shows that they care.”
Nationally, the HRC survey found that although nearly 90 percent of participants include sexual orientation in their Patient’s Bill of Rights and/or non-discrimination policy, only 60 percent include gender identity in these policies. Additionally, 49 percent grant equal visitation access for same-sex couples through an explicitly inclusive policy; 52 percent have such a policy inclusive of same-sex parents.
“We hope all health care facilities will achieve a perfect score, and we feel that the participants in this survey are working toward that,” Guequierre said.
