By Healthcare Facilities Today

Attention to carbon emissions, medical waste, water consumption, unhealthy food, fossil fuels and climate change are - along with patient care - key goals for hospitals and health systems across the country as healthcare providers embrace their role as community partners, according to an article on the Becker Hospital Review website.

Figures from the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Administration show hospitals and other healthcare facilities are among the most energy-intensive structures in the country, cumulatively spending almost $8 billion per year on energy alone, according to the article.

Becker's Hospital Review researched and analyzed sustainability information from sources such as Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, Healthier Hospitals Initiative, the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the EPA and other healthcare sustainability organizations and experts and came up with a list of 50 hospitals are among the greenest healthcare organizations in the country.

The first five (in alphabetical order) are:

• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital (Downers Grove, Ill.)

• Anne Arundel Medical Center (Annapolis, Md.)

• Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak (Mich.)

• Borgess Medical Center (Kalamazoo, Mich.) 

• Boulder (Colo.) Community Foothills Hospital

See the rest of the list.