Healthy People Live on a Healthy Planet

The connection between our planet and our health is intertwined and interlinked. At its most basic level, good health starts with the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. When these sources of life are compromised, we have a problem. And we have a big problem right now.

As a part of our ongoing commitment to healing, we recently released our annual Sustainability Report that details how we carry out and measure the ways we are reducing our impact on the environment.

Just as physicians investigate the causes of a condition, we in health care are looking outside of our hospital walls to the environmental determinants of human health that we see presenting as injury or illness inside the four walls of care settings. More and more, we are seeing patients suffer from respiratory issues due to asthma that are not caused by seasonal allergies, but are instead the result of higher levels of pollen due to warmer winters. Extreme and prolonged heat during the summer is causing more cardiovascular, respiratory, and death related to heat strokes. And of course, we are all suffering from extreme weather phenomena from flooding to wildfires.

At CommonSpirit Health, we answer a calling to care for our patients. And that calling comes with an understanding that our patients are also people living amidst environmental conditions that can challenge even our best efforts to help maintain their good health. That’s why we must also recognize and address our own impact on the environment and continue to partner with others to advance a common purpose—caring for Earth—our common home.

How do we walk the walk?

• Reducing our Carbon Footprint. We are decreasing our carbon footprint with measurable climate-smart solutions that are reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and energy usage. To do this effectively requires that we increase our overall use of renewable energy. I am proud to report that, in 2017, we increased our use of renewable electricity to 35 percent, which includes the energy produced from new solar installations at two of our hospitals in Nevada.
• Reducing Waste. We recycled 32.3 percent of our waste in FY 2018 and we are adopting sustainable products in the operating rooms. As a part of the Chemical Footprint Project, we are helping prevent dangerous chemicals from entering our care centers and waste streams. Our waste reduction efforts last year also included eliminating 4 million plastic straws from our hospital cafeterias.
• Advocacy. We continue to advance climate and energy initiatives and legislation that can positively affect health and well-being at the community, state, and federal levels. In support of the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, we are limiting our impact on the environment by decreasing our emissions. Also, as one of the four founding members of the California Health Care Climate Alliance, a body of 119 hospitals in California, we continue our collective work with policymakers to build healthier communities.

These are just some of the ways we are committed to supporting the health of our planet. Hospitals play an essential role in our society, and that’s why I believe it is our collective responsibility as an industry to adopt sustainable solutions that will reduce our negative impact on the environment. Let us all continue to pursue new climate-smart solutions and be relentless and vigilant in using Earth’s precious resources wisely. Together, we can meet the needs of our communities today without sacrificing the needs of generations tomorrow.