National Advocacy Groups, Healthcare Leaders, Hospital Executives to Announce First Ever National Rating of Hospitals on GLBT Care

Washington -- On Tuesday, May 13, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, leaders in the healthcare industry and hospital executives will announce the release of the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), a first-of-its-kind survey to rate the nation's hospitals on a set of baseline standards of patient care for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Americans.

The absence of federal protections, inadequate state laws and differing hospital policies often results in discrimination and inadequate health care for GLBT patients and their families. Too many times, a gay man has been unable to comfort his partner, a transgender person has been ridiculed instead of treated, or a lesbian mom has been barred from seeing her child at the hospital.

The HEI is modeled after the successful Human Rights Campaign Foundation Workplace Project's Corporate Equality Index, which rates corporations based on equality standards for GLBT workers and has lead to over 50 percent of the Fortune 500 offering benefits to same-sex partners today, up from just a handful in 2000.

Solmonese and Ginsberg will be joined by representatives from participating hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Administrators and physicians from these facilities will describe the barriers to quality care that GLBT patients and their families experience as a result of the lack of national protection, discriminatory hospital policies, inadequate state laws, or healthcare providers' insufficient training on the unique health issues faced by the GLBT community.

What:	Media conference call to announce release of first annual Healthcare Equality Index
Who:	Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Joe Solmonese Gay and Lesbian Medical Association Executive Director Joel Ginsberg Vanderbilt University Medical Center Massachusetts General Hospital Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center New York Presbyterian Hospital Author of HEI, Tom Sullivan from Human Rights Campaign Foundation
When:	Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 1 p.m. ET
Conference Call Number: 866/641-2835 Confirmation ID: 47274202

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.