In Healthcare, It Ain't Easy Going Green

Health systems and hospitals are taking a closer look at how they impact the environment. At Valley Children's Healthcare, that begins with a giraffe-shaped microgrid and a 'Green Team'

While innovation strategy is often focused on improving the health of patients and providers, it's ironic to think that the healthcare industry is a major contributor to the decline of the planet's well-being.

Healthcare facilities are among the largest consumers of resources—hospitals alone represent only 7% of all healthcare facilities yet are responsible for almost 70% of total healthcare electricity use. According to the National Academy of Medicine, the healthcare industry accounts for nearly 20% of the GDP, and is responsible for about 8.5% of all carbon emissions in the U.S.

With that in mind, a growing number of hospitals are taking a closer look at how they impact the environment. And they're taking steps to become more environmentally friendly, with strategies that affect everyone from the CEO and CFO down to the cafeteria worker.

"It really is time for us to get in the space of thinking about sustainability and how the impact we have" affects the environment and lives, says Danielle Barry, SVP and chief operating officer at Valley Children's Healthcare, the first pediatric hospital in the nation to achieve sustainable healthcare certification from the Joint Commission.

Formerly called the Children's Hospital of California, the Madera, California-based health system broke ground this past weekend on a microgrid project that's designed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Climate Challenge goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and lead to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The microgrid, which includes solar panels, fuel cells and battery storage that will allow the hospital to generate, store and distribute electricity, was financed in part from Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, with benefits over the long term in reduced energy costs. It's expected to cover 80% of Valley Children's Healthcare's energy needs when it becomes operational in 2025 and save about $15 million in energy costs over the next 25 years.

It's also in the shape of the hospital's mascot, George the Giraffe. And that nod to creativity is what's helping to generate enthusiasm for a strategy that affects everyone.

"It brings with it a lot of energy," says Barry.

Danielle Barry, SVP and chief operating officer, Valley Children's Healthcare. Photo courtesy Valley Children's Healthcare.

In more ways than one. Barry says the hospital began its environmental journey in 2022 with a focus on energy resiliency. With a coverage area of 11 counties and an increasing number of wildfires and rolling blackouts threatening operations, leadership wanted to make sure the power would always be on. At the same time, they wanted to have more of an impact on how that power was generated and how it impacted the environment for their young patients.

"This ties into our mission statement to help children live healthier lives," Barry notes. "It's more about wellness and keeping kids healthy."

That feeling isn't limited to pediatric hospitals. A recent report in Nature Climate Change, published by researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, finds that both patients and providers are concerned about the environmental impact of healthcare, and they're interested in considering environmental factors when discussing treatment options.

"Our findings point to the need to better educate physicians and health professionals about changes they can make, as well as those they can advocate for within their institutions, which benefit patients but also are less toxic to the environment," Andrew Hantel, MD, who co-authored the study, said in a recent news report. "The goal isn't to shift the burden of climate-informed healthcare decisions onto patients, but to engage with them on these issues and make sure they're a normal part of conversations with their doctors."

And at Valley Children's Healthcare, that begins with the microgrid.

"The microgrid will offer us operational expense savings related to how we procure our power," Barry says. "And that's dollars that we can invest right back into our operations and taking care of kids."

Going Green: A Team-Based Approach

While the microgrid is integral to that strategy, it's part of a multi-phased approach. Valley Children's has also launched a 'Green Team,' comprised of employees from all corners of the organizations, including clinicians, janitors, IT and finance people and cafeteria workers.

Barry says they had no difficulties filling out the Green Team.

"We found a number of team members who really have a passion for this journey, and they have really taken off with creating the plan and the goals related to that work," she says.

Their mission is to take a look at hospital operations from the viewpoint of consuming resources, setting baselines and goals for each department. They've looked at how to reduce the use of gas in the OR, methods for reducing waste—especially plastic and paper—throughout the campus, composting food waste, even finding uses for used coffee grounds. They've even started their own garden and put the focus on using food from local farms.

Barry says she and others involved in the program have to weigh each new strategy or program against the budget. Saving the environment and providing a better future for the kids might sound terrific on paper, but those efforts do come with a price tag.

"Not every idea gets adopted," she says. "With some of them, the cost outweighs the benefits, so we prioritize."

Next Up: Tackling the Transportation Conundrum

The third phase of the program will be even more ambitious. Valley Children's Healthcare will be looking at transportation issues, including their fleet of vehicles and how staff get to and from work each day. Can transports and other delivery services be changed to reduce the number of trips taken? Should the health system switch to electric vehicles? Could shuttle services or other mass transit strategies be combined with scheduling changes to reduce the number of staff driving to work alone each day? And can people be convinced to change their driving habits?

"Some of this will be challenging, because we're talking about culture change," she says. "But that's also what makes it exciting."

That strategy also intersects with the health system's increasing use of telehealth, which studies have shown can have a positive impact on environmental goals.

"Any opportunity to keep a kid closer to their home is something that we're always seeking to be able to do," Barry says.

Barry says she had to learn "an entire new study of information" to understand the ins and outs of environmental stewardship in healthcare, including the number of federal and state agencies that figure into every new idea or program. But that type of innovative thinking, she says, is common in children's hospitals.

"I think because pediatric healthcare does not oftentimes represent a large enough slice of the pie for … government payers or private payers or others, we've had to be very creative and out-of-the-box thinkers," she says. "How do we continue to thrive and survive for the kids that are our future? How do we continue to be innovative in that space?"