The Human Rights Campaign honored 496 hospitals as "2016 Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality," including 142 first-time honorees, a new record.
The hospitals that won the award met HRC's four criteria for LGBT patient-centered care: patient non-discrimination, equal visitation, employment non-discrimination and training in LGBT patient-centered care.
The leaders are spread across every region in the country, but this year the South in particular made substantial gains in LGBT healthcare equality. It added the most new leaders, bringing it to the No. 2 region in the nation for the most leaders in LGBT healthcare equality, after the Northeast.
Four states do not have equality leaders in 2016: Alaska, Idaho, Oklahoma and Wyoming.
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