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Although many people have come to assume that applying pesticides is the only way to control pests and ensure a clean, healthy health care facility, this report shows that pests can be successfully managed without toxic pesticides and without having an adverse effect on the quality of patient care. Health care facilities have another opportunity to “first, do no harm” by changing the way they view pest control and by following this guide to safer and effective integrated pest management.
Type: Resources
Health care organizations play a key role in community resilience. Climate change, by increasing the intensity and frequency of some extreme weather events, is creating complex hazards that challenge accepted baseline assumptions for infrastructure capabilities, redundancies, and disaster preparedness and response—and this means a need for new building design thresholds. This government toolkit has been developed to assist organizations engaged in health care facility climate resilience as they improve their response to extreme weather events.
Type: Resources
(Employee engagement toolkit) This document provides guidelines for how health systems can establish and offer retirement options for employees that are free of holdings with fossil fuel companies. In addition to doing good for the world by establishing green retirement options, research tells us that employees seek out employers who are green and reflect their values about the environment and climate change. Benefits such as green retirement can help with recruitment of new employees, while increasing employee satisfaction and reducing turnover of current employees.
Type: Resources
The Coolfood Pledge helps dining facilities – from hotels and restaurants to universities, schools, hospitals, and workplace cafeterias – cut their food-related greenhouse gas emissions by increasing and improving their plant-forward menu options.This 30-minute presentation discusses how food production contributes to climate change, how your hospital can employ low and no-cost solutions to reduce its Scope 3 emissions from food purchasing, and concludes with success stories from hospitals already seeing results.
Type: Resources
Background
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration illustrates that buildings are responsible for almost half of the energy consumed and 38 percent of all GHG emissions in the United States. According to the EPA, inpatient health care ranks as the second largest commercial energy user after the food service industry. The US Department of Energy notes that hospital energy costs rose 56 percent from $3.89 per square foot in 2003 to $6.07 per square foot in 2008, and predicts those costs will continue to rise in the near term[i]. Hospitals are also often the largest water users in… Read More
Type: Resources
The University of Vermont Medical Center's mission and vision are built on a foundation of values that includes a longstanding commitment to being prudent stewards of limited natural resources. We will continuously look for new ways to build upon on our long tradition of environmental responsibility. We recognize that the health of the community is integral to the total health of the environment. We strive to ensure that day-to-day operations are founded in sound environmental practices in all aspects of care delivery. Working together we will continue to improve health and mitigate the… Read More
Type: Resources
Climate Resilience for Health Care and Communities: Strategies and Case Studies provides a strategic framework for building truly climate-resilient health systems and communities, and explores how health care institutions can leverage investments to support equitable decarbonization and build community resilience, health, and wealth. Through case studies, this paper outlines actions health systems can take to improve their ability to adapt and recover from climate-driven service impacts, strengthen long-term sustainability, and support health and equity in the communities they serve.
As… Read More
Type: Resources
(Less water toolkit) There are over 50 million inpatient surgeries annually in the United States according to the CDC, and the majority of clinicians still practice the tradition of hand washing with soap as standard procedure. Carolinas Medical Center’s Green OR Committee discovered that only 22 percent of their clinicians were utilizing waterless scrubs (alcohol-based hand rubs). After facility education and system-wide adoption, over 80 percent of surgical personnel favored the waterless scrubs. This new behavior change translated directly to 2.7 million liters of water savings resulting… Read More
Type: Resources
“I don’t sell plant-based, I sell delicious looking and tasting food that just happens to be plant-based." - Dan Henroid, University of California San Francisco Medical Center
The University of California San Francisco Medical Center is a signatory of the Cool Food Pledge, a new platform to help hospitals offer diners more of what they want while slashing food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
UC San Francisco is one of 64 signatories from health care.
Here are some thoughts from Dan Henroid, UC San Francisco's director of nutrition and food services:
Why have you focused on… Read More
Type: Resources
Hackensack University Medical Center’s annual food and beverage budget is $5 million with an estimated $1.5 million spend on meat and poultry. They serve more than 2.8 million meals annually. In only 18 months, Hackensack University Medical Center now leads the country in achieving a 98 percent benchmark of meat and poultry raised without routine antibiotics. Leadership is driving change through their GPO and the broader marketplace so other hospitals can have access to and benefit from purchasing these products. The medical center received significant media attention for their leadership and… Read More
Type: Resources
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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.
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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.