By Healthcare Facilities Today

Hospitals have a mission to help the elderly and the weak, but don't always walk the walk. Cancer is treated, but hazardous chemicals are found in cleaning products and furniture. There's a global climate-change crisis, yet hospitals are the second-highest energy consumer of any sector and generate more than 30 pounds of waste per bed per day, according to a blog on the GreenBiz website.

"Health care is in conflict with itself — in some ways, it's its own worst enemy. A sound treatment protocol has to be balanced with resource conservation and management," wrote Janet Howard, director of facility engagement for Practice Greenhealth.

Howard offered 10 reasons to practice a better approach.

1. Human health and the environment

Climate change impacts public health, yet most facilities aren't ready to say it out loud. Wisconsin-based hospital system ThedaCare, for example, created a "sustainability leader" position and is hosting the Climate and Health Symposium to educate staff about environmental action and education. 

2. Prevention

We've moved beyond the notion of merely treating disease and toward prevention and wellness, with several pioneering programs leading the way. 

3. Cost savings

Extending the life of equipment, improving efficiency, preventing toxins and waste, using less energy and water — these activities reduce costs. 

4. Employee engagement

Workers engaged in what they do will provide better care to more satisfied patients.

5. Competitive advantage

At this year's Institute for Health Care Improvement annual conference, co-founder Don Berwick shared in his keynote that environmental stewardship has redefined the three-pronged framework for quality health care — patient experience, cost per capita and population health.

6. Mission and ethics

What is the value of long-term success if it's on an uninhabitable planet? When framing environmental stewardship activities, it helps to review a hospital's mission statement. 

7. Marketing and PR

Practice Greenhealth, the nonprofit where I work, hosts the health sector's Environmental Excellence Awards. These offer an opportunity for hospitals, long-term care facilities and community health centers to share, and receive recognition for, positive data and the stories behind them. 

8. Community benefits

The Affordable Care Act requires not-for-profit hospitals to conduct a community needs assessment and to develop implementation strategies to address identified needs.

9. Patient experience

A quality patient experience goes beyond clinical excellence. The environment that makes one feel less stressed and cared for — a look in the eyes, a caring conversation — can be harder to quantify, but is also important for the healing process.

10. Happiness

Happiness comes from helping others. Protecting the planet, even in small ways, is something that takes healing beyond the facility walls.

Read the blog.