How Can You NOT Green Your Hospital?

April 2, 2012

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School

What are you already doing?

Raise your hand if you have:

Any sustainability work going on in your hospital Any recycling programs Any energy or water conservation projects Any waste reduction projects A green mission statement A green team A sustainability strategic plan An understanding of what green initiatives save money Buy-in from a CEO/COO/Senior Leader A part or full-time sustainability position

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School2

I would starting greening my hospital tomorrow, if only ____

When I think about starting to green my hospital, I worry about ____

I want to green my hospital but I am not sure about_____

Fill in any one of following statements:

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School3

Initiative Savings

Recycled Paper $45,759

Recycled Cardboard $17,270

Reprocessed Devices $240,842

Shuttle Fuel $21,015

Shift to online referral guide $36,500

Stop defrosting meat w/running water $14,000

Single Stream Recycling $25,910

Metal Recycling $11,213

Wood Recycling -$503

Donations $9,209

E-waste recycling $5,987

Reduced Paper Use $13,532

Reupholstery $15,920

Total FY Savings $456,654

The real question is can you afford NOT to do this work?

Proposed ChangesAnnual Savings

Reduced Bottled Water Use $50,000

Convert Water Filters $70,000

Eliminate Cooler cups, except in patient areas $18,000

Eliminate paper Radiology & Pathology reports $115,000

Bring parking subsidies in line with T-pass and vanpool subsidies $400,000

Keep research fume hoods closed $60,000

Total $713,000

Actual BIDMC FY11 Savings

Not Sure We Can Afford It

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School4

Projected BIDMC Future Savings

We Don't know Where to Start

Saves Money

Easy to Accomplish

Meets Employee Expectations

Start with the tactics that are easy to accomplish, save money and meet employee expectations for a green hospital.

This area of overlap is the goal

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School5

It's OverwhelmingThe Practice Green Health Eco Checklist Includes 146 possible changes you can make to your hospital, broken into 11 broader categories.

Completing that list is too big a task for people just starting out - so just pick a few items:

Print it out. (It’s a PDF so it can’t be manipulated on screen) Check off the items you have already done Cross off the items you aren’t going to touch right now because:

They are too hard to do…• Too labor intensive• Require input from too many people• Require technical skills you don’t currently have

They are too expensive to do They aren’t important to your employees

Keep crossing off items until you only have about 5-30 left, depending on your tolerance/capacity for multitasking.

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School

This should create a manageable work load.

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Questions:

• What makes an effective manager?

• If you are a manager, what skills do you need to be effective at your job?

Skill Reason

We Don't Have Expertise In-House

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School7

We Don't Have Expertise In-HousePractice Green Health has done all the leg work on the “green” issues. The only expertise you need is how to make changes at your own hospital.

Communicate

Thank people

Facilitate meetings

Train employees

Empathize, cheerlead, advocate

Manage expectations

Event plan

Create and manage web presence

Collaborate with other institutions

Build alliances across the hospital

Communicate successes at all levels of the hospital

Strategic planning

Frame and prioritize issues

Analyze data

Collect data

Compute ROI

Publish quarterly report card

Problem solve

See possibilities and remove roadblocks

Design and implement systems

Find money

Negotiate/compromise

Comply with regulatory standards

How We Do It

Reduce waste

Increase recycling

Reduce the number of commuters who drive alone

Increase our green purchasing

Reduce the presence of hazardous chemicals in the hospital

What We Do

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School8

No One Has Time

Somewhere in your hospital there is an employee who is passionate about the environment and is willing to make the time to do the coordinating/leg work because it is important to him/her. Everyone else just has to show up once per month.

People make time if they believe it is well spent. Ask an experienced/skilled facilitator to help guide your process Measure results and share progress

Ask people to focus on what they think they can do. Ask people to focus on projects that are in areas they control and can be folded into

the rest of their job. Eliminate Styrofoam in the cafeteria Set up single stream recycling

Look for projects that don’t take a lot of time to set up or complete. An early win bolsters confidence and makes people want to get more invested. Reupholstering exam tables Donating medical equipment Setting up a scrap metal program

Everyone has time for things they believe are productive, worthwhile and achievable.

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School9

1. This is important because it matters to your staff.

2. This is patient care. It’s simply a shift to focusing on wellness and prevention.

Every truck or car you take off the road lowers asthma and stroke rates.

Reduced energy consumption either through lower utility consumption, reduced transport or more recycling means a smaller impact on global warming, which is connected to an increase in a variety of medical conditions: Increased allergies due to increased pollen levels Increases in vector-borne diseases (Malaria, West Nile, Lyme) Increased skin cancer rates

Reduced energy consumption exposes fewer employees to toxins in the extraction and production processes.

Not a Priority - We are Focused on Patient Care

A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School10