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The surgery department is sometimes referred to as the soul or epicenter of a hospital for a number of reasons: It can bring in up to 60% of a facility’s revenue, and the reputation of the operating room is often tied directly to the reputation of the hospital.
At the same time, a typical OR can make up half of a hospital’s aggregate costs, produce 33% of a facility’s waste, consume more energy per square foot than any other area of the hospital, and anesthetic gases alone make up around 5% of an organization’s greenhouse gas footprint.
All of this boils down to a department rich in… Read More
Type: Press
RELEASE
May 9, 2019
Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth honor environmental health heroes
Every year Health Care Without Harm honors an individual with the Environmental Health Hero award. This year, the nonprofit organization didn’t stop at one person. They’re recognizing the entire staffs at three California hospitals who went above and beyond to care for their communities during extreme weather events from wildfires to heat waves.
Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center made sure vulnerable members of community received attention and care during record-… Read More
Type: Press
Food Day is an annual event on Oct. 24 that inspires Americans to change not only their diets but also our food system. But for hospitals in our network, it’s Food Day every day. Food service directors, chefs, nutritionists, and other hospital leaders who are taking action to source local and sustainable ingredients, serve more plant-centered meals, and reduce food waste are working to build and support strong local food systems and economies, increase the health and well-being of those they serve, and reduce their impact on the planet.
Here are stories of what they’ve accomplished over the… Read More
Type: Press
The U.S. Health Care Climate Council has welcomed two new members. University of California Health (UC Health) and Rochester Regional Health have joined the leadership body of health systems committed to protecting their patients and employees from the health impacts of climate change and becoming anchors for resilient communities.
As part of the University of California system, UC Health is working toward 100 percent reliance on clean electricity supplies across its campuses and UC Health’s medical centers by 2025. This dovetails with the university’s prior pledge to become operationally… Read More
Type: Press
For the first time, we’re providing all Practice Greenhealth members with access to view the more than 60 CleanMed sessions for free. Take advantage of this added member benefit to learn from and be inspired by colleagues and experts from across the country to advance your sustainability goals.
Visit the Greenhealth Academy to access the CleanMed 2018 sessions.
You can also check out and share CleanMed photos, including Environmental Excellence Award winners. Please attribute images to Practice Greenhealth.
Type: Press
What is your unique climate story? Rachelle Reyes Wenger, Dignity Health's director of public policy and community advocacy, delivers a CleanMed Talk challenging us to reflect on who we are and the tremendous power we each possess to change the trajectory of climate change using our story.“As a trusted voice...health care is [necessary] to the larger climate narrative — in that we have a story to tell and the way we come to tell our story matters a whole lot,” she says.
Her story, your story.
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth members were featured in “A profitable prescription: More US hospitals are going green to keep them out of the red” on the front page of USA Today.
The Aug. 10 article highlights how a growing number of health care systems are adding environmental improvements, which are reducing costs.
“We’re saving $1 [million] to $3 million a year in hard cash,” said Jeff Thompson, the former CEO of Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis., the first hospital system in the U.S. to produce more energy than it consumed back in 2014. “There are multiple examples – at Gundersen and… Read More
Type: Press
In 2018, Practice Greenhealth member Rochester Regional Health was selected as the inaugural winner of the Climate and Health Innovation Award, which recognizes a hospital or health system for innovative work addressing the health impacts of climate change.
Rochester Regional Health was chosen not only for their ambitious goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity systemwide in under a decade, but also for their leadership in communicating that commitment to their patients and community.
“To keep the members of our community as healthy as possible, we must also do our part to… Read More
Type: Press
Our communities once again experienced the health impacts of climate change in 2018, including increases in heat-related illness, asthma and respiratory illness, as well as injuries and premature deaths from extreme weather events such as wildfires and hurricanes. There’s been no shortage of reports warning of the health impacts of climate change: The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a sobering report in September detailing the dramatic effects of climate change and the immediate steps we need to take to make progress on limiting warming in the future, the Fourth… Read More
Type: Press
Dignity Health supply chain and sustainability staff worked collaboratively with Staples, their office supply distributor, to improve the use of more sustainable office supplies throughout their network. The results of this initiative that began in late 2016 have shown both an increase in “sustainable spend” and 5 to 7 percent savings in the category of office supplies.
“Our purchasing decisions not only contribute to our cost and quality goals but connect us to our core values – especially that of stewardship – cultivating the resources entrusted to us to promote healing, which is at the… Read More
Type: Press
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 1,500 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.