Sustainability Within Hospitals: How Hospitals Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions By Using Sustainability Frameworks to Track, Benchmark, & Find Solutions
Sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are becoming more important globally and everyone needs to do their part to create and maintain a sustainable society. The healthcare industry accounts for nine to ten percent of the total US greenhouse gas emissions and are no exception to this. The aim of this study was to find the different ways hospitals are implementing sustainability change, and why some methods worked while others didn’t. Practice Greenhealth (PGH) is an organization helping hospitals to implement sustainability changes by providing sustainability resources to them. To do this, I interned at Harborview Medical Center filling out the 2024 PGH Application for the hospital. I contacted and interviewed contractors, employees, and other stakeholders to gain information to fill out this application. I also conducted a literature review to see how hospitals are approaching sustainability. Hospitals don’t have a universal tool to track and measure key sustainability measurements. They are focused on providing quality healthcare but may have little or no expertise in sustainability practices. Using a sustainability framework like PGH, helps hospitals find the correct solutions and changes necessary for the issues at hand. Just by starting to track and measure sustainability data, hospitals can find ways to lower their environmental impact. If hospitals don’t make changes, they will continue having a negative impact on the environment and won’t contribute their fair share to reach a sustainable future.
