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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 support of health care administrators is needed to link the healing mission of hospitals to the purchasing and serving of sustainably produced food that is healthy for patients, staff, and guests. These purchasing patterns will help to transform the food system at large into a system that supports human health, environmental stewardship, and social justice for farm workers
The current food system in the United States contributes to common and costly diet-related diseases including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Without action by the health care sector, the prevalence of these… Read More
Type: Resources
Thresa Pattee, our beloved colleague, friend, and posthumous recipient of our 2024 Environmental Health Hero Award
Each year, we select an Environmental Health Hero to recognize and celebrate their contributions to the environmental health movement. This year, Health Care Without Harm is honoring one of our own staff members who passed away in March after a valiant battle with bone cancer.
Thresa Irene Pattee, as all who knew her would agree, was a force of nature. In her eight years at Health Care Without Harm, she brought a passion for the mission of the organization that was matched… Read More
Type: Press
Purchasing touches every department of a hospital, and a high-level commitment to environmentally preferable purchasing can anchor these efforts and drive comprehensive, sustainable changes in how supplies and services are procured.
Practice Greenhealth has collected best practices from many hospitals that are successfully doing this work. The most successful have followed a clear framework of important steps that secure buy-in and longevity, promoting the results of any initial purchases of before the organization procures its first sustainable services or products. These key activities… Read More
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The health care industry is the only sector with health as its core mission. Open 24/7 and buzzing with high-tech, life-saving equipment, hospitals are incredibly energy-intensive facilities, consuming roughly 2.5 times more energy per square foot than a typical commercial office space.
While being used to save lives and improve patient health, this energy is often generated by the combustion of fossil fuels that contribute to pollution, disease, and climate change, which leads to numerous damaging health effects.
Globally, outdoor air pollution kills more than 4.5 million people each year… Read More
Type: Resources
Practice Greenhealth’s 2019 Visionary Leader Award winner Barbara Tretheway arrived at HealthPartners in 2000 wanting to make a difference at work and in the community.
As general counsel, much of her focus was on governance, including helping to ensure the board of directors was governing the health care organization in the most efficient and impactful way possible.
“Every corporation whether for profit or not for profit is a citizen of the community that they live in and is judged in many societal ways. ‘Are you proud that they are in your community, or are they harming your… Read More
Type: Press
On a recent winter morning, Michael J. Fiore CIH, CSP, director of Environmental Occupational Health and Safety/Sustainability at NorthShore University HealthSystem, sat down with Hermine Levey Weston for a conversation about the value of the Environmental Excellence Awards in advancing their sustainability goals.
[Hermine] NorthShore University HealthSystem’s past successes include an Emerald and a Top 25 Hospital award. Why do you make the Environmental Excellence Award application a priority for your program?
[Mike] This is a great question and extremely appropriate as I think about how… Read More
Type: Press
2013 Award Winners Announced
(Reston, Va.)— Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading membership association devoted to environmentally responsible health care, has announced its 2013 Environmental Excellence Award winners. These coveted Awards are given to institutions within the health care sector for outstanding programs to reduce the facility’s environmental footprint.
Harborview Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, and Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital were acknowledged with Practice Greenhealth‘s highest award by being admitted to the Environmental… Read More
Type: Press
Health care is joining organizations across the country in the goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
Food can be wasted but is never “waste.” As a valuable resource, it does not belong in a landfill. Landfilling food contributes to climate change and is a missed opportunity for addressing food insecurity. Our guidance, which aligns with the EPA food recovery hierarchy and evolving state and federal regulations, leads you through each strategy from source reduction to food donation to recycling and will help you make a plan for achieving your waste reduction goals.
Assemble the… Read More
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Sustainability programs that are aligned with organizational priorities are more likely to gain senior leadership’s support and lead to long-term success. Almost 90% of the top-performing institutions in our sustainability benchmark reports have an executive-level champion at the top of their reporting structure. This executive champion or sponsor brings credibility and authority to the program’s mission and goals while setting a tone from the top that this work is important.
Equally important are environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. This criteria has been used for years 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 1,500 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.