Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Receives Top Marks for LGBTQ-Inclusive Policies and Practices for Third Consecutive Year

Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has been awarded the LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader designation from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for the third straight year, an indicator of the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation annually evaluates health care facilities across the United States with its Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), with the Healthcare Equality Leader title given only to hospitals achieving the full HEI score of 100.

"Perhaps more than any year, 2020 has been a clarion call that discrimination in any form is a barrier to proper, equitable health care," says CHLA President and CEO Paul S. Viviano. "At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, we not only serve every patient and their family with hope, compassion and respect; we value the broad experience and background that each team member brings to the continuum of care. I am proud of CHLA’s three-time designation as a Healthcare Equality Leader because it is a clear sign of the organization’s continued commitment to providing the same world-class pediatric care and experience for all patients and families."

The HEI was developed to give health care facilities the information and resources they need to ensure that LGBTQ patients have access to patient-centered care. This year’s survey actively evaluated 765 U.S. health care facilities, including 35 children’s hospitals, on their inclusive policies and practices towards LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees. In the 2020 report, CHLA was among 495 facilities that earned the Health Care Equality Leader designation.

Organizations were scored based on a panel of questions surrounding four major criteria related to the equitable treatment and inclusion of LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees:

• Non-discrimination and staff training, including policies related to equal visitation, patient/employment non-discrimination and staff training in LGBTQ patient-centered care
• Patient services and support for LGBTQ patients, including patient self-identification and medical decision-making processes
• Employee benefits and policies, including availability of transgender-inclusive health coverage
• Patient and community engagement, relating to how a facility engages with their LGBTQ patients and the LGBTQ community at large

The HEI helps LGBTQ patients and their families search for facilities that provide equitable, knowledgeable, sensitive and welcoming care; it also serves as a valuable resource for the health care industry in adopting best practices in employee policies and benefits, as well as community engagement.

“This designation is a testament of our organization-wide actions and collective commitment to dignity and respect for all patients, families, visitors and team members,” says Ryan Parker, interim Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. “We are honored for the designation, and we realize we still have work to do to further develop an intentionally inclusive enterprise where all feel valued, where diversity and health equity thrives and where patients and families can receive exceptional care.”

The HEI was launched in 2007 to help healthcare organizations seeking to provide optimal care to LGBTQ patients and to meet requirements by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Joint Commission related to caring for this underserved population.

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles is the highest-ranked children’s hospital in California and fifth in the nation on the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals. U.S. News ranks Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in all 10 specialty categories. Clinical care at the hospital is led by physicians who are faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC through an affiliation dating from 1932. The hospital also operates the largest pediatric residency training program at a freestanding children’s hospital in the Western United States. The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is home to all basic, translational, clinical and community research conducted at the hospital, allowing proven discoveries to quickly reach patients. Our mission: to create hope and build healthier futures. To learn more, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, and visit our blog at CHLA.org/blog.