Fuller Hospital works diligently to create a climate and therapeutic milieu that serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals in all levels of care including inpatient, outpatient and in home therapy programs. We have worked to create a culture amongst our staff, providers and facility which honors everyone’s sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
We have instituted both practice and policies that set our expectations for not only how we welcome patients, but ongoing expectations acknowledging alternative family structures, emergency contacts, inclusive group curriculum, preferred pronouns and names. Our clinical and leadership team has built a program that honors the needs of the LGBT community by creating and implementing clinical programming and training for staff to best serve this community through best practice training standards which staff renew biannually.
In an effort to address this need and serve a largely disenfranchised population, Fuller Hospital acknowledges the well-documented research of the barriers which can be created in healthcare settings for LGBT individuals, especially when the facility does not seek training for all levels of patient engagement. Fuller Hospital took this opportunity to create programming, training and policies that explicitly lay out expectations for the treatment of LGBT patients including restroom and room placement. Fuller instituted a comprehensive training program and systemic process initiative that includes clinical best practice training and protocols implemented to welcome patients at admission and create an appropriate, engaging and therapeutic stay through discharge. This includes direct care staff, nursing, medical providers, administration, outpatient services, maintenance and facilities, and dietary.
At Fuller we seek to create an environment that allows all patients to be fully who they are, while creating a place to heal and recover from the stressors of mental health. While some LGBT patients may be struggling with their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, we also acknowledge that we treat patients for whom other problems including anxiety and depression may need to be addressed.
We treat all patients of all genders and sexual orientations and seek to create a climate of which welcomes all, honors chosen identities, names and pronouns, and creates a space to fully be yourself while you work with a team of dedicated mental health providers to heal.
In 2019, data collected showed 94% of our patients reported feeling better at discharge than when they were admitted, 94% reported feeling satisfied with their treatment, and 93% stated they would recommend Fuller Hospital to someone needing behavioral health treatment. Fuller has taken the additional step of ensuring the protection of our LGBT staff by creating an inclusive non-discrimination clause that includes sexual orientation and gender identity and seeks out LGBT publications for which to hire and train new candidates. This is an added step necessary to ensure that our staff reflects our patients’ similarities and understandings of community.