The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has again named the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) a leader in "LGBTQ healthcare equality."
The hospital system has been given the designation since 2018, but this year, UAB placed flags all around the campus to celebrate the occasion.
Patients worldwide flock to UAB for "gender-affirming care," including children who are patients at Children's of Alabama. Those services include hormone therapy, sexual and reproductive health services and management of common medical conditions.
The Gender Health Clinic, led by Brianna Peterson, "makes referrals for gender-affirming voice therapy, dermatology, mental health services and certain surgical procedures."
"We welcome patients from across the world, representing diverse cultures, religions, lifestyles, and economic backgrounds," UAB states on its website. "Diversity and inclusion are not just values that we uphold — they are the very foundation of the atmosphere we strive to maintain."
The Heersink School of Medicine Office for Diversity and Inclusion LGBTQ+ Faculty Association also pushes LGBTQ and DEI by implementing guidelines for UAB faculty. This is part of how they received the designation from the Human Rights Campaign.
"To earn this designation, healthcare facilities must demonstrate dedication to LGBTQ+ health by implementing LGBTQ+-responsive policies, training staff in LGBTQ+ health care, and communicating these policies to the public and staff members," Holly Dunn with UAB stated. "In the 2024 Healthcare Equality Index, UAB Medicine was one of only 384 healthcare facilities to achieve a perfect score of 100. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion played a crucial role in providing data to document Heersink School of Medicine's policies and practices, which contributed to this remarkable achievement."
A report by medical watchdog group Do No Harm concluded the DEI programs are "destructive philosophies" in which "medical students are indoctrinated with the idea that the entire healthcare industry is systemically racist, everyone in it is steeped in implicit bias, and its entire structure is designed to inflict harmful inequities and health disparities onto specific patient populations."
Color Us United said many DEI studies have nothing to do with medicine and only lower the quality of doctors because doctors are hired primarily based on race and not solely on merit.
This year, Alabama passed a law banning DEI program funding in Alabama public universities, schools and agencies. The law goes into effect on October 1.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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