Moving the Needle Toward Environmental Sustainability and Decarbonization

Description

With health care accounting for 10% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, environmental sustainability and decarbonization of health care are at the forefront of the climate action conversation. Climate deadlines and calls to action dominate the evening news and legislative agendas. However, the idea of decarbonizing the entire health care sector is more than a little overwhelming. Hospitals and health systems have a vested interest in the climate conversation not only because of climate change’s impact on public health and critical health care delivery infrastructure, but also because the complex energy and resource needs of hospitals and health care systems directly contribute to the health care’s carbon footprint. In this session, AHA and ASHE health care sustainability experts will provide an overview of the complex concepts of environmental sustainability and decarbonization through the AHA policy lens, demonstrate tasks to empower attendees with practical ways to get started, and provide perspective on changing culture and engaging teams to work together in a joint effort to move the needle.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe key concepts pertaining to the complex subject of environmental sustainability and decarbonization of health care.
• Explain the American Hospital Association’s policy perspective.
• Discuss effective strategies to begin to build momentum toward achieving targets and goals.
• Demonstrate methods for influencing culture, desiloing organizations and engaging cross-functional teams.
• N/A

Speaker(s):

• Kara Brooks, MS, LEED AP BD & C, Senior Associate Director, Sustainability, American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE)
• Mark Howell, JD, Senior Associate Director Policy, American Hospital Association