Originally posted at http://www.PROMOonline.org
Picture by Katie Stuckenschneider
By: Andrew Shaughnessy, Manager of Public Policy
PROMO Fund and SAGE Metro St. Louis are thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded a two years contract through the Missouri Foundation for Health to continue the work of the LGBT health access team. The LGBT health access team is a joint effort that seeks to decrease health disparities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Missourians through improving access to health and social services. Through LGBT welcoming policy changes and education on LGBT disparities and issues, this collaboration has proven itself successful.
In 2014, the LGBT health access team:
- Increased the number of Missouri Hospitals that reported and qualified as ‘Leaders in LGBT Health’ under the Human Right’s Campaigns 2014 Healthcare Equality Index, to 19. Up 950% from the 2013 HEI.
- Worked with 48 Missouri Hospitals, who incorporated roughly 110 LGBT welcoming policies.
- Provided 63 cultural competency trainings, which include both LGBT Health Access Training and, in partnership with Community Catalysts, LGBT cultural competency navigator trainings, reaching roughly 1,900 people.
To learn more about LGBT health, please visit the PROMO website by clicking here.
The future for the collaborative looks bright and we owe it to the hundreds of hard-working LGBT health advocates across the state of Missouri, who believe that ALL Missourians deserve access to care they need.
Looking to the next 2 years, the LGBT health access team has already begun making plans to further tackle the disparities found in LGBT health for Missourians. In continuing to educate and create LGBT welcoming spaces in Missouri’s health and social service facilities, the collaborative will be working to:
- End discriminatory exclusions for LGBT folks in marketplace plans & within Missouri private insurance plans.
- Work alongside Missouri Departments to aid in the incorporation of pro-LGBT policies.
- Continue to educate and empower health and social service professionals across the state of Missouri to be the voice of change within their organization.
The LGBT health access team will continue to work everyday to ensure that LGBT families and our families of choice are able to live strong and healthy lives now and in the future.
andrewshag.com 