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Each year, Practice Greenhealth collects and compiles comprehensive sustainability data from hospitals that report through the Environmental Excellence Awards. Practice Greenhealth is then able to provide the sector’s best performance benchmarking data to hospitals and health systems working to build environmental stewardship into their mission.
Sustainability initiatives can add value, reduce negative health and environmental impacts, and save critical health care dollars – substantiated by the environmental performance data coming out of health care. The 331 hospitals that contributed… Read More
Type: Resources
By John Strong Principal of John Strong, LLC and serves as president of Greenhealth Management
As you shake the sleep off, you realize that the sounds of your 12-year-old daughter’s latest asthma attack woke you. You determine immediately that this is going to require another trip to your local health care provider’s emergency room. When you pull up to the door of the emergency room, housed in a brand-new facility built by the largest integrator of care in your state, you feel palpable relief. There’s no wait—and soon a physician, nurses and others have her situation under control.
No one… Read More
Type: Press
The COVID-19 pandemic upended health care and continues to have lasting impacts on the way we deliver care. It brought significant shifts in hospital operations, from shutting down elective surgeries and reducing food service to dealing with monumental supply chain challenges and a rapid transition to telehealth.
Sustainability leaders at Practice Greenhealth partner hospitals remained committed to maintaining sustainable practices where possible and lending sustainability expertise to emerging challenges.
As the only organization collecting comprehensive sustainability data for the health… Read More
Type: Press
The CleanMed Virtual Series featured six interactive webinars designed for those passionate about resilience in health care to connect and innovate. If you were unable to attend the sessions live, or if you would like to view and share any – or all – of them again, the recordings are now available.
Gain inspiration from experts on how to stay focused on sustainability while incorporating resilience strategies into all facets of health care – from the food you serve, to the trees you plant, the supplies you purchase, and the teams you assemble.
CleanMed is here to help you build resilient,… Read More
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth’s Visionary Leader Award annually recognizes a senior-level health care executive who has effectively advocated for and woven sustainability and environmental stewardship into health care operations through innovative strategies and mentorship. The 2020 winner of the Visionary Leader Award is Alison Santore.
Santore is an influential leader and tireless advocate for the poor and vulnerable. As Providence’s senior vice president of government affairs and social responsibility, she is a strong supporter of underserved communities. She leads this work within Providence’s… Read More
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth member Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, was among the first hospitals to receive and treat COVID-19 patients.
They used more personal protective equipment (PPE) in two months in early 2020 than their entire 51-hospital system used the previous year.
The realization that there would not be enough PPE if standard infection prevention policies and isolation procedures were followed meant something had to change, and quickly.
As supplies of high-filtration masks dwindled, CDC and FDA provided guidance to hospitals on how employees could reuse “… Read More
Type: Press
Pest control in hospitals is important to maintain cleanliness and prevent the spread of disease. However, many pest control chemicals are toxic and can expose patients, staff, and visitors to harmful compounds, threatening health. Since hospitals are operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is no “after-business” window with reduced exposure risks to safely apply chemicals.
Hospitals looking to reduce the number of pest control chemicals used in their facilities are turning to integrated pest management programs that eliminate regularly scheduled pesticide applications. Instead,… Read More
Type: Basic page
By Kate Gottlieb, Practice Greenhealth sustainability strategy manager
I grew up in a temperate rainforest on the boundary of the Olympic National Park and the Quinault Indian Reservation in Washington. I have witnessed and experienced the effects of climate change. The melting of our local glacier has impacted salmon runs, rising sea levels and storms have threatened tribal villages along the coastline, and wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent.
As a mom of two, I believe it is my duty to show my boys how to be stewards of this planet. We pick up trash when we see it on the… Read More
Type: Press
New Orleans is known for festivals and food. It is also known for a complicated recovery from Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the infamous storm’s landfall, there was one local LEED building. Fourteen years later, more than 1,000 stand in the city. While progress can be measured by the increased number of green buildings, the resilience of its people echoed a warning that fell silent to the public; climate change is real and we must address it in design and construction and ensure the built environment is compatible with the turbulency of the natural environment.
In the heart of New… Read More
Type: Press
By Sarah Spengeman, Ph.D., Health Care Without Harm Climate and Health program associate director
Have you thought to yourself, “How can my hospital or system step up its climate leadership?” If so, Health Care Without Harm has plenty of ideas for you, including a great example from Inova. Practice Greenhealth member Inova Health System in Northern Virginia recently worked with Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action (VCCA) to host a half-day conference for clinicians on the health impacts of climate change.
“Our changing climate presents an opportunity for clinicians to leverage their… Read More
Type: Press
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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.