From the July 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
We launched the Healthier Hospitals Initiative in 2012 to raise the bar in health care sustainability, challenging the entire health care sector to accelerate its progress as a whole. With the backing of 12 founding health systems, Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, and The Center for Health Design set out to reduce the environmental impact of hospitals and health systems across the country and lead our nation on a path to a healthier future.
More than 1,200 hospitals stepped up to the plate, reducing energy use and waste, serving healthier food and reducing the use of chemicals of concern. We feel strongly that the participation of these hospitals, outlined in our 2014 Milestone Report, shows significant progress in six “challenge” areas: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals and smarter purchasing.
Less energy and waste
U.S. hospitals emit 8 percent of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and create 28.4 pounds of waste per hospital bed per day. It’s no surprise that energy and waste were key areas addressed throughout our work. Together, we reduced health care greenhouse gas emissions by 73,600 metric tons, the equivalent of removing 15,600 vehicles from U.S. roads. We also recycled 445,722.39 tons of materials from hospitals across the country, totaling 45,000 garbage trucks by weight.
Reducing energy use in hospitals and increasing recycling and re-use are paramount to improving the sector’s environmental footprint. They also make good business sense. A typical hospital’s annual energy bill runs $1 million to $3 million, depending on its size and location. Hospitals and health care facilities also face much higher disposal costs than most industries.
We spend billions of dollars annually to treat diet-related, chronic diseases—$147 billion to treat obesity alone, another $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions to treat cardiovascular disease and cancer. Most agree: promoting healthier, more sustainable food choices is a critical step toward reversing negative trends.
Our Healthier Foods Challenge was designed to bring healthier, more sustainable food to hospitals across the nation. We created incredible momentum around this issue as organizations stepped up to model healthy behavior and reduce diet-related chronic diseases.
