Roswell Park Again Named an ‘LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader’

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Following an extensive survey, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) has once again named Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader on its 2024 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). Now in its 16th edition, the HEI is a national benchmarking tool that evaluates healthcare facilities’ policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of their LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and employees. 

Among nearly 2,400 healthcare facilities evaluated nationwide, Roswell Park is one of 384 participating healthcare employers that earned “Leader” distinction after receiving a top score of 100 on the index based on their work to provide safe and high-quality experiences for all staff and patients, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. The HRC is America’s largest civil-rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. 

“With continued recognition as a Healthcare Equality Leader from the Human Rights Campaign, we reaffirm our commitment each and every day to our LGBTQIA2S+ patients and employees, working to make sure that every person is treated with dignity and respect and is receiving the best cancer care and services possible,” says Maansi Bansal-Travers, PhD, MS, LGBTQIA2S+ Task Force Chair at Roswell Park and also a faculty researcher in Health Behavior at the cancer center. 

In the two years since Roswell Park was last named a Healthcare Equality Leader by HEI, Roswell Park has expanded staff training on cultural competency, continued to update its policies and practices to be more inclusive, and deepened its engagement in LGBTQ+ community events to help increase awareness of cancer-specific needs in this community.

“The Healthcare Equality Index is helping people find facilities where welcoming policies and practices are the standard,” says Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “We know that LGBTQ+ people – especially our trans family – continue to face discrimination in the doctor’s office. No one should have to put their health on the backburner for fear of mistreatment in a healthcare facility or by their doctor.”

For more on Roswell Park’s commitment to LGBTQ+ health, please visit roswellpark.org/cancer-care/support/lgbtq-health. 

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From the world’s first chemotherapy research to the PSA prostate cancer biomarker, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center generates innovations that shape how cancer is detected, treated and prevented worldwide. Driven to eliminate cancer’s grip on humanity, the Roswell Park team of 4,000 makes compassionate, patient-centered cancer care and services accessible across New York State and beyond. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park was among the first three cancer centers nationwide to become a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and is the only one to hold this designation in Upstate New York. To learn more about Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Roswell Park Care Network, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email ASKRoswell@RoswellPark.org.