Tools and resources

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Sustainability Organizational Structure

Sustainability governance structures are put in place to ensure progress on sustainability initiatives. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s governance structure includes a high-level steering committee, and a range of topical working groups and task forces. They also have a network of local leaders who implement and integrate sustainability into departments on the ground.

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Mayo Clinic Local Sustainability Subcommittee Charter

Charters define logistics, roles, responsibilities, priorities, and interdependencies of a sustainability program’s structure. Mayo Clinic’s Florida sustainability subcommittee charter begins with a purpose statement, outlining the reporting structure to the system level sustainability committee and highlighting the working relationship between governance structures at multiple levels.

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Trinity Health Ann Arbor and Livingston Sustainability Commitment Statement

Sustainability commitment statements articulate how an organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities align with sustainability work, and underscore the importance to patients and communities. Trinity Health Ann Arbor’s statement references their values of justice and stewardship, outlining how carbon footprint reduction and enhanced sustainable operations has helped them become…

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HealthPartners Sustainability Commitment Statement

  • Exemplary Document
Sustainability commitment statements are brief, inspirational, and visionary. HealthPartners’ mission statement succinctly connects the relationship between sustainability work and improving community health and well-being.

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Rush University Medical Center Utilities Working Group Charge and Structure

Charters are usually created for discrete governance structures, such as the charter for Rush University’s green team utilities working group, a topical work group focused on energy. The charter outlines the group’s purpose and charge, which includes provision of regular progress updates to the organization’s high-level sustainability steering committee. Additional sections outline logistics,…

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Global Road Map for Health Care Decarbonization

A navigational tool for achieving zero emissions with climate resilience and health equity This is the second in a series of research and policy papers that Health Care Without Harm and Arup have produced together to identify a set of actions the health sector can take to align itself with the ambition of the Paris Agreement while simultaneously achieving global health goals. Green Paper One…

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Medical products: Guidance to achieve PVC/DEHP elimination for manufacturers

This document provides guidance for manufacturers wishing to meet Health Care Without Harm’s safer medical products and devices criteria. Medical products must not contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). For many years, Health Care Without Harm has prioritized the elimination of PVC and DEHP in medical products because of their toxicity and to increase the safety and…

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Health Care GHG Emission Reduction Action Plan Template

  • Climate and Health
Create an action plan to reduce your hospital or health care facility's GHG emissions by identifying and prioritizing possible interventions. Identify interventions by scope, activity, or category and estimate the costs and savings of each intervention in terms of dollars, the return on investment (ROI), or reduction in metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent (MTCO2e), an industry standard…

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How medical directors of sustainability make the case for their positions

  • Leadership
View this recording of a Health Care Without Harm Physician Network meeting to learn how medical directors of sustainability made the case for their positions, along with their strategies to advance climate-smart health care, engage and educate clinicians, and coordinate clinical sustainability efforts.  

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Medical director of environmental sustainability perspectives on climate impact of clinical care

Watch this grand rounds session to hear Dr. Jonathan Slutzman, medical director of environmental sustainability at Massachusetts General Hospital, explore the climate impact of clinical care and why clinician leadership and research are critical in reducing health care emissions.  

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