Rush among top U.S. hospitals for equal treatment of LGBT patients, family members and employees
Newswise — CHICAGO – For the third consecutive year, Rush University Medical Center has been named a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality in the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) report, an annual survey of U.S. hospitals regarding treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients and their families and hospital employees.
Rush was one of only 27 survey respondents in the country and one of only two in Illinois to meet all of the survey’s main criteria. The survey respondents represented 375 health care facilities nationwide.
The HEI survey is administered annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the country’s largest LGBT civil rights organization. The survey evaluated hospitals on the basis of four key policy areas: visitation policies, cultural competency training and patient and employment non-discrimination policies. Rush received a perfect score in all of the evaluation categories.
“At Rush, we are committed not only to providing the excellence in clinical service for which Rush is nationally known, we also are committed to providing these services in a manner that understands, accepts and affirms the individual circumstances of each patient. We recognize that we need to understand and work with our patients as unique individuals in order to provide them with the very best care,” says Dr. Larry Goodman, Rush CEO.
“Being included among the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality for the third consecutive year is an important affirmation of this effort,” Goodman says, “and one we are proud and grateful to receive.”
The Healthcare Equality Index 2011 is available online in PDF format at www.hrc.org/hei.
###
Rush is a not-for-profit academic medical center comprising Rush University Medical Center, Rush University, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Health.
Rush is currently constructing a 14-floor, 806,000-square-foot hospital building near the corner of Ashland Avenue and the Eisenhower Expressway. The new hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, is the centerpiece of a $1 billion, ten-year campus redevelopment plan called the Rush Transformation, which also includes completion of a new orthopedics building, a new parking garage and central power plant, renovations of selected existing buildings and demolition of obsolete buildings. In January, Rush opened the new Rush University Cancer Center in completely renovated facilities in its Professional Buildings. The new hospital is designed and built to conserve energy and water, reduce waste and use sustainable building materials. Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be the first full-service, “green” hospital in Chicago. The hospital was designed using “universal design standards,” which ensure barrier-free accessibility for people with disabilities, and has exceeded many building code requirements to help everyone such as a mother with small children.
Rush’s mission is to provide the best possible care for its patients. Educating tomorrow’s health care professional, researching new and more advanced treatment options, transforming its facilities and investing in new technologies—all are undertaken with the drive to improve patient care now, and for the future.
RSS