153 of the Most LGBT-Friendly Hospitals

Which hospitals are truly the best when it comes to caring for LGBT patients?

Unfortunately, some hospitals won’t let you see your partner outside of visiting hours, even if the law says you have the right. Sometimes hospitals are unfriendly to transgender or gender-nonconforming patients . That’s why the Human Rights Campaign will release its annual Healthcare Equality Index at a press conference in Washington, D.C., today with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

“I commend the LGBT and health care communities for the progress made and I am proud to be part of an administration that has a historic record of accomplishment for the LGBT community,” Sebelius said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We will continue to take action to ensure that LGBT Americans get equal treatment in health care settings and that all patients are treated with the dignity they deserve.”

The index rates health care facilities on a four-point scale regarding equitable and inclusive care for LGBT patients and their families. These points include patient nondiscrimination policies, visitation policies, employment nondiscrimination policies, and staff access to LGBT patient-centered care training.

Of the 407 rated health care facilities, 153 received a perfect score in the index. California, the nation’s most populous state, was most represented on the list with 57 health care facilities receiving a perfect score. Georgia, Massachusetts, Florida, and Ohio rounded out the top five states in the index.

Still, 28 states— including 12 states in the Midwest and Northeast — have no hospitals with perfect scores, though some came close. Additionally, while Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont have marriage equality, none of these states has a hospital with a perfect score.

The following pages list the states with hospitals that received perfect scores, plus the individual hospitals, followed by states without any representation. Did your neck of the woods make the cut?

Note: Hospitals and health care facilities that were unable to complete the full questionnaire are omitted from The Advocate's list. For the complete Healthcare Equality Index, visit HRC.org.

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