Christiana Care Health System’s Christiana and Wilmington hospitals have both been designated a 2017 “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality,” receiving a perfect score on the national Healthcare Equality Index(HEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational branch of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization.
It is the sixth consecutive year Christiana Care’s hospitals have received the honor. This year, Christiana and Wilmington hospitals were among a select group of 302 health care facilities in the nation – and the only two hospitals in Delaware – to earn “leader” status.
For 2017, the 10th edition of the HEI implemented new criteria that raised the bar on what it takes to earn HRC’s “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” designation.
Among the achievements that helped earn 2017 “leader” status:
- Provided transgender health benefits to employees and their dependents. Christiana Care is the only health system in Delaware to do so.
- Added the web page “LGBTQ Health Initiatives”to org so the LGBTQ community can readily find information about LGBTQ services at Christiana Care and in the community, and to locate LGBTQ-friendly health care providers, as well as other useful resources.
- Created “Transgender Care Guidelines and Resources” best practice tips and guidelines document to help clinicians, providers and other staff to provide respectful care to transgender patients and their families.
- Produced an It Gets Bettervideo as a community outreach tool to help prevent suicide for at-risk LGBTQ adolescents and young adults.
In 2015, the health system formed an LGBTQ Patient-Family Advisory Group.
The HRC Foundation works to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
