National campaign urges healthcare facilities to improve sustainability
WASHINGTON - During a White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) conversation in July, leaders in healthcare and policy discussed the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) to reduce the environmental footprint of hospitals, lower costs and improve overall patient health by way of including sustainability efforts and initiatives into their business models.
HHI is a national campaign to implement a new approach to improving environmental health and sustainability in the healthcare sector. Eleven of the largest U.S. health systems, comprising approximately 500 hospitals with more than $20 billion in purchasing power, worked with Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth to create HHI as a guide for hospitals to improve sustainability.
Among those at the forum were representatives from nationwide healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs). They discussed the critical role of the healthcare supply chain in introducing these environmentally-sustainable designs.
"It's true that the supply chain is an important part of greening the healthcare system," said Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) President Curtis Rooney. "What people choose to buy matters and if you can get green products you can really move the market."
Rooney noted that last year HSCA endorsed the Practice Greenhealth "Standardized Environmental Questions for Medical Products," which has been used to guide the identification, selection and procurement of environmentally preferable medical products. The tool is a significant part of Practice Greenhealth's "Greening the Supply Chain Initiative," which the organization launched in 2011 to provide a common set of tools for purchasers, suppliers and manufacturers to ensure that environmentally-preferable products are available, cost competitive and of comparable quality.
"It's primarily important to make sure the patient gets the right and safest product, but this initiative can also save money by aggravating the purchasing. It creates the ability for the prices to be driven down so that these environmentally-preferred products can be affordable," Rooney said.
Terri Scannel, director of corporate citizenship and sustainability for Veterans Health Administration who attended the White House discussion in July, believes it's vitally important for hospitals to get involved with initiatives like the HHI.
"On the basis that hospitals represent the largest sector of the economy, we have a great opportunity to influence our impact on the environment through the way hospitals operate," she said. "Hospitals are frequently the largest water user and a high user of energy in general."
John Messervy, director of capital and facility planning at Partners HealthCare in Massachusetts and the chair of the HHI steering committee who also was at the White House discussion, said there are a number of cost-free ways for hospitals to get involved with the HHI.
According to Messervy, HHI has identified six challenge areas for hospitals: engaging leadership, healthier foods, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals and smarter purchasing. HHI is asking hospitals that want to be a part of this to sign up for at least one of the challenge areas free of charge.
"We are trying to reduce the environmental footprint of healthcare and do it in a way that it improves the safety of patients and employees, improves environmental attributes, and saves money at the same time. They are not mutually-exclusive goals," said Messervy.
"These challenges can not only save a hospital money but also improve the facility and move the community forward," said Gundersen Lutheran Health System CEO Jeff Thompson. The health system was the first to sign up for all six of HHI's challenges. "This is not only good for the community, but you can really save money. Our $2 million investment saves us $1 million a year. That's financially very sound and it's a great example for the community."