For the fourth consecutive year, Rush University Medical Center has been named a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality in the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) report, an annual survey of U.S. hospitals regarding treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients and their families and hospital employees. The report was released Tuesday.

Rush is one of only five hospitals in the nation that the survey has ranked as a leader for four or more consecutive years, and one of only three in Illinois that met all of the survey’s main criterion this year. The survey’s 122 respondents represented 407 health care facilities nationwide.

The HEI survey is administered annually by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of HRC, the country’s largest LGBT civil rights organization. “LGBT patients deeply appreciate the welcoming environment provided by a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality,” says HRC family project director Ellen Kahn. The Healthcare Equality Index 2011 is available online in PDF format at www.hrc.org/hei.