Search Results
Displaying results 11 - 20 of 203
For 20 years, the Environmental Excellence Awards have recognized the U.S. health care sector’s top performers in sustainability. This program enables Practice Greenhealth to gather sustainability data nationwide, identify leaders, and empower health care facilities to continually improve their sustainability efforts. Participating facilities can compare their sustainability data with peers, share successes and best practices, and validate their work to contribute to the national health care sustainability movement. Facilities new to sustainability can use the application as a guide, finding… Read More
Type: Basic page
Reducing energy waste and procuring renewable energy are some of the most effective steps that our member hospitals are taking to reduce their environmental impact and protect community health. There are many reasons energy should be an area of focus:
Inpatient health care is ranked by EPA as the second-largest commercial energy user in the United States.
Health care facilities consume close to 10% of the total energy used in U.S. commercial buildings and spend more than $8 billion on energy every year.
The health care sector is responsible for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The… Read More
Type: Basic page
Nonprofit hospitals are required to provide community benefit programs to maintain their tax-exempt status. Recent changes to community benefit regulations require hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments (CHNAs) every three years and to develop implementation strategies to address significant health needs in their communities.
To identify the community benefit lead at your facility, a good first step is to obtain your hospital’s CHNA, implementation strategy, or community benefit report. These are likely to be posted on the hospital’s website. Often a contact will be listed… Read More
Type: Basic page
Hospital’s food and nutrition departments can help ensure healthy food access both within and outside their walls.
Expanding healthy food access
Many health care system staff — especially those working in food service, nutrition, and procurement departments — are pursuing activities to increase access to healthy foods.
At the same time, community benefit staff are undertaking community health activities to address health priorities such as food insecurity, diet-related diseases, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.
By working together, these groups can share expertise and resources… Read More
Type: Basic page
As a sustainability professional, you can connect your community benefit department with healthy food program implementers in your food service department to help align your organization’s sustainability efforts with community benefit investment opportunities.
Connecting the dots
Collaboration among sustainability staff and community benefit staff can additionally align and amplify “climate co-benefit” initiatives that directly improve public health.
By working together, these departments can share expertise and resources to more effectively — and simultaneously — address environmental and… Read More
Type: Basic page
Increasingly institutions are procuring local foods to meet customer demand and to align with organizational goals. While they are robustly engaged in this work, food service operators may not be actively promoting their efforts. A seasonal harvest program can meet their distinct need to do so.
With ready-to-use materials that highlight the foods they buy and intentional messaging that conveys the value of local and seasonal eating, seasonal harvest campaigns can help institutions elevate their work to customers and leadership and increase awareness of the far-reaching impacts of their food… Read More
Type: Basic page
The health sector must work collaboratively with health care suppliers to decarbonize the supply chain and build climate resilience for the entire value chain.
“Catalyzing Collective Action to Decarbonize Healthcare: A Roadmap for Health Systems and MedTech Suppliers” was published in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, Accenture, Practice Greenhealth, and Health Care Without Harm. It consolidates feedback from a round table of health systems and their top suppliers, as well as group purchasing organizations, along with findings from additional subject matter experts and secondary research… Read More
Type: Basic page
Hospitals are in a unique position to support healthy food access programs that respond to needs in their communities.
Triple win
By tying local food systems development to patient and community health outcomes health care, can achieve its core mission, reduce the cost of health care related to food insecurity, and deepen community relations.
Hospital campuses can be great places to host farmers markets, food pantries, or as a site for distributing community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares.
A growing number of hospitals have their own garden or farm on their grounds that is connected… Read More
Type: Basic page
The Destination CleanMed series featured discussions building momentum that culminated in Pittsburgh, May 23-25 for CleanMed 2023. Invite your colleagues, collaborators, and partners to view recordings these free events.
The psychology of climate change as a force for good
March 23, 2023 12:00 PM ET
The mental health impacts of climate change are profoundly felt by those working in health care and beyond. People living in historically underserved communities and people of color feel the effects exponentially and have been leading the environmental justice movement for decades. Pittsburgh… Read More
Type: Basic page
“Our team shared information with staff about not only what we were doing but why. If you want buy-in from the people preparing and serving the items you’ve created, they need to be a part of it and support it. Frontline staff represent everything you’re trying to showcase. Without their support, you will lose momentum, and your patients and customers will not see the importance of the changes being made.”
– Jill Martin, senior director of food and nutrition services.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Food production accounts for approximately 25% of global greenhouse emissions and contributes to… Read More
Type: Basic page
Join Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the health care sector’s go-to source for information, tools, data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives that help hospitals and health systems meet their health, financial, and community goals.
Who We Are
Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada. Partnership opportunities include hospitals, health systems, community health organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, government, academic institutions, and the health care value chain.