Capital Health earns “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer” designation in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index
Capital Health recently announced their “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer” designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC). The designation was awarded in the 16th iteration of HRC’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). A record 1,065 healthcare facilities actively participated in the HEI 2024 survey and scoring process. Of those participants, 462 received the “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer” designation.
“Capital Health’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the populations we serve in urban and suburban communities, and that means everyone in those communities,” said Dr. Eric I. Schwartz, vice president of Community Health and Transformation and executive director of Capital Health’s Institute for Urban Care. “Our designation as an LGBTQ Healthcare Equality High Performer demonstrates our ongoing commitment to upholding a model of equality and respect for our LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and staff and providing a safe and welcoming environment throughout our organization.”
“As anti-LGBTQ+ extremists look to strip away healthcare access at every turn, LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones are looking for healthcare providers to offer and champion fully inclusive services, The Healthcare Equality Index is helping people find facilities where welcoming policies and practices are the standard,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “We know that LGBTQ+ people – especially our trans family – continue to face discrimination in the doctor’s office. No one should have to put their health on the backburner for fear of mistreatment in a healthcare facility or by their doctor.”
This year’s HEI comes as LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to be “treated unfairly or with disrespect by a doctor or healthcare provider” in the last three years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The impact of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation combined with a history of discrimination in healthcare settings has the potential to cause even more LGBTQ+ people to delay or avoid seeking healthcare, which makes the HEI even more salient for those looking to find LGBTQ+-inclusive care.
For more information about Capital Health, visit capitalhealth.org.