Moffitt Earns Top Score in Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 Healthcare Equality Index
TAMPA, Fla. (March 28, 2022) — Today the Human Rights Campaign announced that Moffitt Cancer Center is once again an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader. More than 900 health care facilities participated in the 2022 Healthcare Equality Index survey.
“We as an institution are so proud of this designation because it highlights that our mission to prevent and cure cancer is for everyone, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, gender identity or culture,” said Cathy Grant, vice president, chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer with Enterprise Equity. “Everyone deserves the best cancer treatment and care available, and patients and their families deserve to be comfortable in that treatment environment. It’s an honor that Moffitt is recognized as a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community to come and receive the care they need and deserve.”
The Healthcare Equality Index evaluates and scores health care facilities on detailed criteria in four areas:
- Foundational Policies and Training in LGBTQ+ Patient-Centered Care
- LGBTQ+ Patient Services and Support
- Employee Benefits and Policies
- Patient and Community Engagement
In the 2022 report, 496 facilities, including Moffitt, earned the Human Rights Campaign’s LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader designation, receiving the maximum score in each section and earning an overall score of 100. Another 251 facilities earned the Top Performer designation with scores between 80 and 95 points and at least partial credit in each section. With 82% of participating facilities scoring 80 points or more, health care facilities are demonstrating concretely that they are going beyond the basics when it comes to adopting policies and practices in LGBTQ+ care.
“Every person deserves to have access to quality health care, be respected and heard by their doctor, and feel safe in the facility where they are receiving care. But LGBTQ+ people are often subject to discrimination in all spaces, including health care facilities, which leads to members of the community avoiding care and anticipating our voices will not be respected in an incredibly vulnerable environment,” said Tari Hanneman, director of Health & Aging at The Human Rights Campaign. “The Healthcare Equality Index, at its core, strives to ensure LGBTQ+ people are protected and affirmed by their health care providers and feel safe seeking services. Our HEI active participants are truly pioneering the health care industry by implementing robust, comprehensive LGBTQ+ inclusive policies that hopefully, because of their work, will become standard practice.”
The remarkable progress reflected in the 2022 Healthcare Equality Index includes:
- 93% of participants met the index’s training requirements, completing more than 200,000 hours of staff training in LGBTQ+ patient-centered care.
- 82% of participating facilities earned either the Leader or Top Performer designation.
- 99% of participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their patient nondiscrimination policy.
- 99% of participants documented that they include both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment nondiscrimination policy.
- 81% of participants offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits to their employees, up from 75% in 2019, which was the first year this was required in order to obtain Leader status.
In addition to active survey participants, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation proactively researched the key policies for LGBTQ+ inclusion at over 1,300 nonparticipating hospitals. Unfortunately, these research hospitals were much less likely to have LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination policies in place, which is a stark contrast to the near-perfect adoption by active participants. Among the researched hospitals that had enumerated patient nondiscrimination policies, only 70% have policies that include both sexual orientation and gender identity compared to 99% of Healthcare Equality Index participants.
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 52 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 7,500 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.4 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About the Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public’s understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.