UCSF Medical Center Receives Highest Rating on National LGBT Healthcare Equality Index
UCSF Medical Center received the highest possible rating on a groundbreaking lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) Healthcare Equality Index released yesterday.
The 2008 Healthcare Equality Index evaluates the nation's hospitals on their treatment of LGBT patients and their families.
"UCSF's Medical Center is very proud to have earned a perfect score on the equality index - and, above all, proud that providing competent, equitable care for LGBT people and their families is part of what we do every day," said Mark Laret, chief executive officer of the medical center.
The equality index, which rates 88 hospitals nationwide, is a collaboration of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT civil rights group, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), the national organization for LGBT health professionals. Invitations to complete the 2008 Healthcare Equality Index survey were sent to hospitals nationwide in October 2007. Participating hospitals submitted their responses through a web-based survey.
"The index not only shines a light on top-performing hospitals, but also draws attention to the prejudice that LGBT Americans face during some of their most critical moments," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "For example, too often a gay man has been unable to comfort his partner, a transgender person has been ridiculed instead of treated, or a lesbian mom has been barred from seeing her child at the hospital."
The index rates hospitals in five categories: patient nondiscrimination, hospital visitation, medical decisionmaking, competence training and employment nondiscrimination.
"UCSF Medical Center stands out in all of these areas," said Shane Snowdon, UCSF's LGBT Resources director, who has worked closely with medical center administrators. "In fact, UCSF actually goes beyond the index criteria -- the medical center has made tremendous efforts to ensure that LGBT people receive unbiased and knowledgeable treatment."
When California passed legislation that expanded the rights of registered domestic partners and prohibited discrimination against transgender people, Snowdon says, the "medical center was extremely responsive."
A task force convened by Cindy Lima, executive director of administration and project director of the Mission Bay hospital, developed a pioneering "Inclusive Language Policy" that made the medical center's registration forms and practices more LGBT-welcoming. Lima also implemented LGBT issues training which Snowdon provides, that has made a huge and measurable difference in how medical center staff view and treat GLBT co-workers and patients. The policy is now used in hospitals around the state and the country. For these and other efforts, Lima was recognized in 2007 with the UCSF Chancellor's GLBT Leadership Award.
UCSF also exceeds the Healthcare Equality Index criteria in providing the only dedicated LGBT unit in a health care setting anywhere in the nation - the LGBT Resources office directed by Snowdon.
In addition, UC was the first university or health care system in the nation to provide transgender health coverage to its employees, a move hailed by LGBT health advocates. "It didn't surprise me a bit when our medical center was able to answer 'yes' to every question on the index," Snowdon says. "We are truly committed to LGBT health equality."
The UCSF Strategic Plan reinforces these practices in that it calls for delivering the highest-quality, patient-centered care as well as establishing a culture that welcomes diversity in all forms, including sexual orientation.
The 2008 Healthcare Equality Index, the first of its kind, is designed to provide a baseline understanding of hospital policies nationwide and to establish a gold standard for competent care of LGBT Americans. It will be repeated annually to allow the health care industry to measure its progress, and future editions will assess long-term care, assisted living, hospices and community health clinics, as well as hospitals.