Eisenhower Health Named a2022 Top Performer in LGBTQ+ Health Care Equality

Eisenhower Health has received an evaluation of 95 out of 100 and the designation of “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Top Performer” in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 15th anniversary edition of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey of health care facilities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of their LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and employees. 

“At Eisenhower Health, we support and celebrate celebrating the individuality of our staff, patients, and community,” says Martin Massiello, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our health care team is committed to providing a welcoming and safe environment for all of our patients keeping equity and inclusion top of mind. We are so proud to be designated as a Top Performer in LGBTQ+ Healthcare because we believe every patient should receive safe, high quality care.”

“Every person deserves to have access to quality health care, be respected and heard by their doctor and feel safe in the facility where they are receiving care. But LGBTQ+ people are often subject to discrimination in all spaces, including health care facilities, which leads to members of the community avoiding care and anticipating our voices will not be respected in an incredibly vulnerable environment,” says Tari Hanneman, Director of Health & Aging at The Human Rights Campaign. “The Healthcare Equality Index, at its core, strives to ensure LGBTQ+ people are protected and affirmed by their healthcare providers and feel safe seeking services. Our HEI active participants are truly pioneering the healthcare industry by implementing robust, comprehensive LGBTQ+ inclusive policies that hopefully, because of their work, will become standard practice.”

In the 2022 report, 251 facilities earned the “Top Performer” designation with scores between 80 to 95 points and at least partial credit in each section. With 82% of participating facilities scoring 80 points or more, health care facilities are demonstrating concretely that they are going beyond the basics when it comes to adopting policies and practices in LGBTQ+ care.

The remarkable progress reflected in the 2020 HEI includes: 

• 93 percent of participants met the HEI's training requirements, completing more than 200,000 hours of staff training in LGBTQ+ patient-centered care.
• 82 percent of participating facilities earned either the Leader or Top Performer.
• 99 percent of HEI participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their patient non-discrimination policy.
• 99 percent of HEI participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment nondiscrimination policy. 
• 81 percent of HEI participants offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits to their employees, up from 75 percent in 2019, which was the first year that it was required to receive Leader status.