Healthcare is dirty. Hospitals are doing something about it

The U.S. healthcare system emits the same amount of greenhouse gases every year as 100 coal-fired power plants.

That’s according to Gary Cohen, founder and president of Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm. Cohen said two culprits account for nearly 80% of the healthcare industry’s carbon emissions: the supply chain and nonrenewable energy investments. The supply chain in particular—which includes anything from medical devices to food—is a pain point for all hospitals, because they cannot function without a reliable pipeline.

“So much of the climate footprint is in the supply chain,” Cohen said. “It’s really the place where a lot of work needs to happen.”

Some of that work has already started. Since November 2021, 650 hospitals have signed a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050 in accordance with the Glasgow Climate Pact, Cohen said. While doing so requires sweeping changes, some hospitals have already begun to close the loop on their energy consumption and supply chains in smaller ways.

At Boston Medical Center, a 2,700-square-foot rooftop farm produces more than three tons of vegetables each year, said David Maffeo, the hospital’s senior director of support services. The farm provides food for patients and those experiencing food insecurity, who can receive a produce prescription from a doctor via the hospital’s food clinic.

“Food often travels thousands of miles. We’re growing it just feet away from our patient rooms,” he said.

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Kaiser Permanente, the first health system in the U.S. to reach carbon neutrality, is now working to scale back its buildings’ water use by 25% by 2025. Kaiser has already taken steps to get there, said Seema Wadhwa, the system’s executive director for environmental stewardship.

“We installed low-flow and automatic water fixtures, moved to xeriscaping—or drought-tolerant landscaping—and invested in smart irrigation systems to avoid wasting water in our facilities,” she said. As of April, those steps have reduced water use by 15% compared with 2013, she added.

At Holy Name Medical Center, retired employee Rod Donovan set up two beehive boxes on the Teaneck, New Jersey, hospital’s rooftop in May. The 60,000 or so bees produced 60 pounds of honey in just six weeks, according to Steven Mosser, Holy Name’s executive vice president of operations. It will be bottled and sold at the hospital’s gift shop.

“Our goal for producing honey is twofold: sustainability and health. Establishing the rooftop beehives in the heart of (the city) is in line with our dedication to sustainability, such as recycling, green construction initiatives, and reducing our carbon footprint,” he said. “In addition, the bees forage far and wide, pollinating local flowers and plants.”

With climate goals set for the next three decades, hospitals will continue innovating their way toward greener, more sustainable practices for years to come. But the real objective of the long game, Cohen said, is to keep more people out of the hospital in the first place by improving their overall health, including through a cleaner environment.

“The greenest hospital we have is the one we don’t need to build,” he said.