CHICAGO – For 11 years in a row, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center has been designated a “Leader in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization.
The designation was awarded in the 11th edition of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), released today. A record 626 healthcare facilities actively participated in the HEI 2018 survey, with HRC Foundation proactively researching key policies at more than 900 additional non-participating hospitals. Advocate Illinois Masonic, which has received the “Leader in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality” designation every year since its inception, is one of only 418 hospitals in the country that earned the top honor this year.
“We are extremely proud to receive this designation again this year, which demonstrates Advocate Illinois Masonic’s longstanding commitment of service to our LGBTQ+ community,” said Susan Nordstrom Lopez, President of Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. “The HRC’s much more stringent analysis used now means we have met the highest standards in safe and high-quality LGBTQ+ care, support and advocacy.”
The 11th edition of the HEI marks the second year that participants are given a numerical score based on their LGBTQ+-inclusive policies and practices. HEI participants are given scores in four criteria: foundational elements of LGBTQ+ patient-centered care, LGBTQ+ Patient Services and Support, Employee Benefits and Policies and LGBTQ+ Patient and Community Engagement. Participants that receive the maximum score in each section earn the coveted status of “2018 LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader.”
In the 2018 report, an impressive 418 facilities earned HRC’s “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” designation with a score of 100. Another 95 facilities earned the “Top Performer” designation for scoring from 80 to 95 points. With 82 percent of participating facilities scoring 80 points or more, healthcare facilities are going beyond the basics when it comes to adopting policies and practices in LGBTQ+ care.
Of the hospitals who did not participate in the HEI but were scored based on research, only 63 percent have patient non-discrimination policies that include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” and only 53 percent were found to have an LGBTQ+-inclusive employment non-discrimination policy. The equal visitation policy, at 93 percent, is the only one that comes close to matching the rate of the participating facilities.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is education arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
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About Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center is a 397-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in the Lake View neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. The medical center has a Level I Trauma Center and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the highest designations awarded by the state of Illinois, and offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care, including cardiovascular, oncology, digestive health and neurosciences services. A recipient of numerous awards for quality and clinical excellence, Advocate Illinois Masonic has achieved Magnet designation for excellence in nursing services from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The medical center has also been named a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign's Healthcare Equality Index. Advocate Illinois Masonic is part of Advocate Health Care, the largest fully integrated health system in Illinois. For more information, visit www.advocatehealth.com/immc.