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This living wall covers an impressive amount of space giving occupants a moment and area of respite.
By Iqbal Mian, Practice Greenhealth member engagement manager
Being in driving proximity to the Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus gave me the perfect opportunity to intimately understand the organization’s sustainability efforts during a planned onsite visit at the end of June.
Amanda Holloway, Office of Sustainability director, and Ashlyn White, sustainability fellow, gave a stage to present to a diverse audience of nurses, physicians, and departmental staff on the environmental… Read More
Type: Press
The 12 health systems announced signing the Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC) to build healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient local economies through how they spend their dollars. The commitment directs health care purchasing toward industries that decrease their carbon footprint, produce safer products and services, and grow economic opportunities for people of color- and women-owned businesses by at least $1 billion over five years.
“The health care sectors’ oath to ‘do no harm’ cannot solely focus on treating the mass of patients descending through their doors amidst a pandemic,… Read More
Type: Press
By Gary Cohen, Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm president
2017 has been a year of uncertainty. We saw some of the largest demonstrations in modern history, including the Women’s March, the People’s Climate March, and the March for Science. At the same time, it felt like the planet held its own demonstration.
In just over six weeks, the United States and surrounding areas were hit by four major hurricanes. The estimated costs for hurricanes Harvey and Irma combined are between $150-200 billion. Puerto Rico still has half of the island without power. On the other side of the… Read More
Type: Press
By Shanda Demorest, Practice Greenhealth member engagement manager
The ask. Long before I joined Practice Greenhealth in May 2019, Karoline Sperling at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minn., heard I was a nurse looking to talk about climate change with whomever I could. Fast-forward several months to August, when we reconnected around the ask, which had blossomed to speak about environmental sustainability in health care, the health impacts of climate change, and what people in the infection prevention specialty can do about it. Complex indeed. Fortunately, this… Read More
Type: Press
By Lauren Koch, Health Care Without Harm climate and health program associate director
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I have been eying the GreenBiz conference for years. I was almost as excited to go to this event as I was for my very first CleanMed five years ago – almost.
I was positively giddy getting off the plane in Phoenix. (Temps were in the 80s, which didn’t hurt when you’re flying in from blustery Ohio.) With courses like “Building a New Carbon Economy” or “How Climate Resilient is Your Company,” I couldn’t sleep the first night, even with a generous dose of NyQuil to battle… Read More
Type: Press
38 case studies & guidance on sustainable health care
“It’s very exciting to be part of a strategy that is so ambitious and future thinking. It inspires us as health care workers to play our part in helping our district to achieve the goals we’ve set out.” – Amy Bernotas, Anaesthetic & Recovery Nurse, Hunter New England, Australia
Health Care Without Harm and partners convened health care organizations from 17 countries around the world to share their stories of proven practices and step-by-step guidance for dramatically reducing greenhouse gases and protecting life-giving… Read More
Type: Press
By Julie Moyle, MSN, RN, Outreach and Engagement Specialist, Practice Greenhealth
In 2016, the state of Florida saw states of emergencies as a result of a massive algae bloom in its fresh water supply, the arrival of the Zika virus, and two hurricanes which brought flooding and destruction to both coastlines, as well as the all the associated health and economic impacts. Already at sea level, Miami and many others coastal cities along the Atlantic seaboard are experiencing an increase in “sunny day floods,” which means during tidal events, rising sea levels are resulting in an increase in… Read More
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth is excited to announce the recipients of this year's Environmental Excellence Awards, recognizing health care facilities across the country that have maintained and strengthened their commitment to sustainability amidst a pandemic. Health care institutions have found innovative ways to make progress on reducing their environmental impacts while facing unique challenges in the past year. These facilities recognize the intrinsic link between environment, climate, and health, and are working to lead by example.
Hospitals reported achievement across 11 different areas of… Read More
Type: Press
At Practice Greenhealth, we’re dedicated to coaching hospitals through their sustainability journey by targeting key areas like operating rooms. Anesthetic gases, like desflurane, are crucial in surgeries but can also be significant contributors to the climate crisis. To address this, our partner hospitals and health systems are prioritizing the reduction and elimination of one of the most costly anesthetic gases with the highest global warming potential – desflurane.
But there’s great news, according to our Sustainability Benchmark Report – 40% of our partners have eliminated desflurane… Read More
Type: Press
University of Chicago Health staff went above and beyond when they tackled the ever-growing pile of blue wrap coming out of their surgery department. Challenged with luke-warm recycling markets, Amber Kratochvil, operating room associate director, and a group of OR nurses came up with an innovative idea that both reduces waste and helps their community.
When they presented the idea to the unit-based council (UBC), UBC chair Heather Renken ran with it, establishing a team to start saving all disposable blue wrap that sterile trays come in when they arrive at operating rooms from sterile… Read More
Type: Press
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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.