Research shows that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population faces a range of social and cultural factors that affect their health and the ability of health care providers to serve them. Many essential hospitals are working to create health equity for this population using both existing resources and their own innovative ideas.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has created the Healthcare Equality Index to measure how well health care organizations care for LGBT patients and meet requirements set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission for LGBT patient-centered care. We applaud all of the members of America’s Essential Hospitals who have been honored by the HRC as 2013 Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality. Read on for some of their stories.