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Rethinking Environmentally Preferred Purchasing: A Case Study in Implementation at Kaiser Permanente
By Vanessa Lochner, Kaiser Permanente's director for the Environmentally Preferred Purchasing program
Achieving an environmentally preferable purchasing program is simpler than many people realize. From the start, it’s important to determine the desired results.
At Kaiser Permanente, our decision to pursue a more rigorous EPP program was motivated by five environmental priorities: cleaner energy, safer chemicals, less waste, healthier and more sustainable food and water conservation. We’ve achieved multiple successes over the past several years. The EPP program delivers over $63… Read More
Type: Press
Julie Moyle, MSN, RN, outreach and engagement specialist
If your sustainability priorities don’t include a transportation program and strategies to reduce transportation-related emissions, you are missing a big opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation as a sector is the fastest growing source of worldwide carbon pollution, and contributes 27 percent of annual U.S. GHGs, exceeded only by energy production/consumption, which comprises 29 percent of annual U.S. GHGs.
Coming soon: Transportation Goal and… Read More
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth’s annual Sustainability Benchmark Report provides the most comprehensive dataset tracking health care sustainability, representing the incredible collective impact that our partner health care facilities in the U.S. and Canada had each year as they worked to make their operations more sustainable.In 2025, a record-breaking 493 participating facilities demonstrated that sustainability in health care is delivering measurable returns, embedding clinical engagement as standard practice, and proving that strategic choices yield outsized impact. This report is made for those… Read More
Type: Resources
Whether your facility is applying for the first time or has been for years, you will find the details on how to access the awards platform, critical awards cycle timelines, descriptions of the different applications, and how they are scored.Where to find the applicationsThe Environmental Excellence Awards are hosted on a separate website that requires a unique username and password. You can access the awards platform at platform.practicegreenhealth.org. If you need help setting up an account, contact us at awards@practicegreenhealth.org.For your data's security, we use a two-factor… Read More
Type: Basic page
In the midst of a healthcare affordability crisis and rising energy costs, healthcare organizations are also facing increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events driven by climate change. We convened representatives from hospitals and other health sector organizations for unfiltered one-on-one peer discussions about climate resilience, providing a window into the state of healthcare climate preparedness in 2026. Over several months, 49 individuals from 30 organizations participated in 22 meetings, exchanging successes, challenges, resources, and connections. Participants… Read More
Type: Press
Healthier Hospitals (HH) was a great success due to the thousands of hospitals and health systems that committed to the six challenges to improve sustainability performance. It represented a shared leadership around healthier communities and provided hospitals of all sizes with free tools and resources that help focus sustainability efforts on the health care sector's biggest areas of opportunity and risk. Our success is due in large part to the strong partnerships we've formed with health care organizations and other nonprofit organizations.
In many cases, these challenges helped get… Read More
Type: Basic page
Health care access to renewable energy
Procuring renewable energy is a highly impactful step hospitals can take to reduce their carbon footprint and negative health impacts. As the cost of renewables falls, transitioning to renewables can reduce energy costs along with pollution. Practice Greenhealth urges health care facilities to set a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Renewable energy resources, availability, and policies vary significantly between markets, and every hospital has different needs. There is no one “right” approach to procuring renewable energy.
Most major… Read More
Type: Resources
HealthPartners
HealthPartners celebrated Earth Day in lots of different ways in 2017 – from electronics recycling to shred events to bee-friendly plants, there was something for everyone to participate in! Events took place throughout the whole week leading up to Earth Day and all across the Twin Cities Metro area and into Western Wisconsin.
In partnership with a local non-profit organization, TechDump, the health system hosted electronic recycling events for the third year in a row.
In honor of Earth Day, and the end of tax season, HealthPartners encouraged employees… Read More
Type: Resources
New report provides first-ever estimate of health care’s global climate footprint, calls for zero emissions
If the global health care sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet, according to Health care’s climate footprint: How the health sector contributes to the global climate crisis and opportunities for action, a new report by Health Care Without Harm in collaboration with Arup.
Establishing the first-ever estimate of health care’s global climate footprint, the report finds health care’s footprint is equivalent to 4.4% of global net… Read More
Type: Press
Award applications for different facility types
The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards provide recognition for health care organization members across the achievement spectrum.
Practice Greenhealth benchmarks three categories of facilities—based on whether they have overnight (staffed) beds or operating rooms within the facility.
Facility type 1: Facilities with overnight beds and ORs (typically acute care or critical access hospitals)
Facility type 2: Inpatient facilities without operating rooms, such as long-term care (LTC), psychiatric,… Read More
Type: Basic page
Join Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the healthcare 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 healthcare 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 healthcare value chain.