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Sustainability initiatives in organizations have become increasingly prevalent amidst not only requests and demands from stakeholders for such but also from the documented realization of the operational and financial benefits frequently associated with such activity. Health care institutions, particularly hospitals, have the potential to assume a significant leadership role in the implementation of sustainable business practices. This paper explores the context in which health care institutions can engage in sustainability and provides some examples of successful sustainability initiatives, whose lessons can be applied in organizations of all sizes across industries.
INTRODUCTION
In what might, in retrospect, be considered the industry's first foray into sustainability initiatives, health care institutions began removing mercury from their operations in the mid-1990s. This action was in response to studies which showed that mercury being used in thermometers, cleaning agents, florescent lighting, computer equipment and other areas of operations was a dangerous human toxic which could have adverse effects on both brain and kidney functioning, completely contrary to the mission of health care institutions. When mercury was replaced with safer substitutes, health care leaders received another unanticipated benefit; these substitutes were not only safer than mercury but also most cost-effective (Cohen, 2017). Hence, a realization that a safer patient and employee work environment wasn't contrary to more efficient operations and cost savings took place.
Health care institutions, particularly hospitals, are afforded tremendous opportunities to both improve patient outcomes and public health and be leaders in promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship. Given that hospitals never close, operating 24/7/365, and utilize expensive, technologically sophisticated equipment, they are among the most energy-intensive facilities in our economy and society. While US hospitals occupy 2 percent of commercial floor space, they use nearly 6 percent of all energy delivered to and utilized by commercial enterprises (Sanborn, 2017). At the same time, only select areas of hospitals are used continuously and many are used sporadically and at less than full capacity. The result is that hospitals in the United States alone spend over $8 billion annually on energy, 90 percent of which comes from non-renewable sources (Levine, 2016). This energy consumption has been estimated to produce 8 percent of domestic greenhouse gas emissions (Sanborn, 2017).
Health care is a $3 trillion industry and accounts for 17...