CHA Earns Top Score in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2024 Healthcare Equality Index
CHA is one of 384 healthcare providers nationwide earning the coveted "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" designation
Cambridge, Mass. – For the third consecutive time, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville and Boston's metro-north communities, received an evaluation of 100 and the designation of "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 16th iteration of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking survey of healthcare facilities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of their LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and employees. A record 1,065 healthcare facilities actively participated in the HEI 2024 survey and scoring process. Of those participants, 384 received the top score of 100, earning the "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" designation.
"We believe that everyone deserves access to safe, welcoming, and respectful healthcare services," said Michael James, CHA's chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. "We are also grateful that our dedication to providing high-quality health care to all members of the LGBTQ+ communities has been recognized by the HEI. This momentous recognition energizes us to do even more to ensure that all individuals receive the care they need and deserve, regardless of their background or identity."
"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."
The HEI evaluates and scores healthcare facilities on detailed criteria falling under five central pillars:
- Non-discrimination and Staff Training;
- LGBTQ+ Patient Services and Support;
- Employee Benefits and Policies;
- Patient and Community Engagement; and,
- Responsible Citizenship
Some of CHA's advances in LGBTQ+ services include expanding benefits coverage for employees if they choose to receive gender-affirming care, an Outpatient Psychiatry medical group called "Coming Out and Being Out," pronoun badges for all employees, and a Gender-Affirming Care Clinic. CHA features an LGBTQ+ Living Well section for patients to use as a resource and get information about services available at CHA.