For the fifth consecutive year, the Healthcare Equality Index has issued Stanford Health Care a perfect score for its LGBTQ policies and practices. 

The index is released annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a national organization that advocates for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer individuals. Health care organizations that receive a perfect score are designated LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leaders. Stanford Children’s Health earned this designation for the first time this year. Stanford Health Care has received the designation six times, including in 2015, before the current scoring criteria were used.

“Being a Healthcare Equality Index leader is a great honor,” said Leslee Subak, MD, director of Stanford Medicine's LGBTQ+ Health Program and chair of obstetrics and gynecology. “It reflects our commitment to promoting outstanding, equal and inclusive care for the LGBTQ+ community.” Subak is also the Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor.

The Healthcare Equality Index evaluates health care organizations’ support of LGBTQ patients, staff and community members. For example, it looks at an organization’s patient visitation policy, whether it has a plan to reduce health disparities among LGBTQ patients, and whether benefits apply to same-sex partners of employees.

Stanford Health Care has initiated a number of programs and policies to support members of the LGBTQ community. Its LGBTQ+ Health Clinic in Los Altos, California, offers care specifically geared toward gender and sexual minorities. Stanford Medicine’s Pride and Allies Employee Resource Group provides resources and advocacy LGBTQ employees. And two Stanford Medicine professors are running the PRIDE study, a long-term look at the health needs and health disparities of sexual and gender minorities.