Tag Archive for: sustainability

Refinery in Corpus Christi , Texas

Ten sustainable steps to mitigate the climate crisis

Refinery in Corpus Christi , Texas

A new manuscript published in the Cambridge University Press outlines 10 actionable steps that infectious diseases professionals can take to reduce their environmental impact.

The U.S. healthcare sector contributes disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions. A new manuscript published in the Cambridge University Press outlines 10 actionable steps that infectious diseases professionals can take to reduce their environmental impact, from better waste management to promoting telehealth and advocating for hospital-wide sustainability initiatives.

Shreya Doshi, M.D., pediatric fellow at Children’s National Hospital, shares some key highlights from this manuscript below:

Q: What’s been the hold-up in the field?

A: Despite the healthcare sector’s significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, we are not doing enough as a community, a nation and as an industry. Much more needs to be done, and a lack of awareness is a major barrier. To truly protect children’s health and keep them out of hospitals, we must focus on reducing harm to their environment. Currently, the healthcare industry is responsible for approximately 8.5 percent of total emissions in the U.S.

Q: How will this benefit patients?

A: By adopting sustainable practices, healthcare systems can reduce pollution and its related health effects. Simultaneously, the resource-efficient use of medical supplies and medications can also lead to more cost-effective care without compromising patient safety, ultimately leading to better health outcomes.

Q: How is Children’s National leading in this space? How unique is this work?

A: This work stands out by focusing on simple, actionable steps that everyone can take, while emphasizing the leadership role that infection preventionists, antimicrobial stewards, and other ID professionals can play in advancing healthcare sustainability. We also have a hospital-wide Sustainability Council that fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. To get involved, email Sustainabilitycouncil@childrensnational.org to join!

You can read the full study, 10 sustainable steps infectious disease professionals can take to mitigate the climate crisis, in the Cambridge University Press.

smoke coming from chimney stacks

Call for action on healthcare sustainability

smoke coming from chimney stacks

New research reveals the U.S. healthcare system’s contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change is disproportionately high and harms the public.

A recent review reveals the U.S. healthcare system’s contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change is disproportionately high and harms the public. The findings are part of a series of articles being co-published by Open Forum Infectious Diseases and the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, which highlight the effect of climate change and air pollution on global health and infectious diseases.

“Our current policies and practices on healthcare waste and emissions do not do justice to the health of the children we want to improve,” said Shreya Doshi, pediatric fellow at Children’s National. “The U.S. contributes to 27% of the global healthcare industry GHG emissions (greater than any other country). Infectious diseases professionals can use their background in antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control to lead projects in healthcare sustainability and make a difference.”

Q: How will this work benefit patients?

A: Ultimately, when different specialties and organizations in healthcare make changes to their practices, we will have fewer GHG emissions and a healthier planet for our patients. There is also strong evidence that climate change affects vulnerable communities and countries disproportionately and we hope to change that. We want to provide safe healthcare to children from the current generation without taking away resources from the future generation.

Q: What’s been the hold up in the field?

A: Lack of awareness and time needed for change in practices and policies. For any organization leadership buy-in is needed when it comes to healthcare sustainability. Children’s National actually received a sustainability award two years ago for reducing anesthetic gases.

Q: What did you find that excites you? What are you hoping to discover?

A: There is so much yet to be explored at the intersection of infectious diseases and healthcare sustainability and that’s exciting! No matter what you do within the healthcare field — there is room for improvement and room for reduction in waste and GHG emissions. It is time to reassess and, rethink and innovate our practices. Having collaborators in other specialties who are passionate about the sustainability can help us move the needle faster. Lastly, it is important to know that work in healthcare sustainability has huge cost savings, so it’s a win for the financial health of the institution and for the planet!

You can read the full study, Healthcare Sustainability to Address Climate Change: Call for Action to the Infectious Diseases Community, in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases and the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Drs. Sophie Pestieau and Andrew Waberski

Children’s National receives sustainability award for reducing anesthetic gases

Drs. Sophie Pestieau and Andrew Waberski

Drs. Sophie Pestieau and Andrew Waberski.

The District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) has awarded Children’s National Hospital with a 2022 District Sustainability Award for its successful work around reducing anesthetic gases that contribute to ozone depletion and greenhouse warming.

The big picture

Current data suggests the U.S. healthcare sector contributes 10% of the nation’s greenhouse effect. Volatile inhaled anesthetic gases are often used in the operating room (OR) during procedures that require anesthesia. Most of the organic anesthetic gases remain in the atmosphere for a long time, where they have the potential to act as greenhouse gases.

  • “In perspective, one hour of anesthesia with the volatile anesthetic Desflurane is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from driving 190 miles,” said Andrew Waberski, M.D., pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist, at Children’s National.

The Children’s National Sustainability Council recognized that gas flows can be safely reduced to levels that provide both economical and health benefits to patients as well helping hospitals “go green.” By doing so, hospitals can decrease the amount of inhaled anesthetics used, which decreases the Global Warming Potential (GWP), and also reduce costs.

Why we’re excited

After assessing the impact of anesthetic gases, the Children’s National anesthesia team proposed several interventions to deliver safe and sustainable anesthesia to children. After implementing low-flow anesthesia techniques and reducing Desflurane usage, Children’s National has reduced its GWP of volatile anesthetics by 80%.

What they’re saying

  • “Thank you to the DOEE for recognizing the sustainability efforts we made in the Anesthesia Division at Children’s National,” said Dr. Waberski. “We are now preventing the emission of approximately 725 tons of CO2 per year. We thank our staff members, faculty and providers for helping to implement these changes and contributing to our sustainability efforts.”
  • “I became passionate about sustainability in healthcare once I became a parent, wanting a healthy environment and healthy future not only for my children to grow in, but for all children,” said Sophie Pestieau, M.D., vice chair of Clinical Affairs, Division of Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine. “As a physician with a duty to ‘first do no harm,’ I see an opportunity to directly address the industry’s growing environmental footprint and assist in the transition to greener healthcare.”
  • “Our Sustainability Council is focused on the hospital’s mission of helping kids grow up stronger, and we pursue this by creating healthy environments. Our projects are successful at reducing waste, saving financial resources and generating quality improvement,” said Rusty Siedschlag, manager of Sustainability at Children’s National.

In September 2021, 200 medical journals named climate change the number one threat to global public health. Children’s National joined the Biden Administration for a White House event on June 30, 2022, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where our team and industry colleagues pledged meaningful action to decarbonize the healthcare sector and make healthcare facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change. Children’s National has committed to meet the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus garage solar panel

D.C. leaders unveil city’s largest solar canopy at Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus

Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus garage solar panel

The clean energy generated by this solar array, which is on the RIC parking garage, will be distributed through the Solar for All program, Mayor Bowser’s initiative to provide 100,000 low-to-moderate income families with the benefits of locally generated clean energy.

Washington, D.C.’s largest solar canopy was recently unveiled on the grounds of the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus (RIC), located on the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus. The installation is part of the District’s Solar for All program and will provide more than 325 income-qualified households with clean, renewable energy and electricity bill savings over the next 15 years.

“When we began to plan the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, we wanted to do more than discover new and better ways to care for children. We also wanted to support the local community,” said Children’s National Hospital President and CEO Kurt Newman, M.D. “I’m proud that we could incorporate the solar design into our campus thereby returning clean energy to the residents of D.C.’s Ward 4 and doing our part to support the environment.”

The District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) awarded Children’s National and partner New Columbia Solar (NCS) with the 2021 District Sustainability Award for the execution of this project.

“I am pleased to celebrate this innovative, award-winning project, accomplished with our partners for the benefit of our residents and community,” said DOEE Director Tommy Wells. “The completion of this project by New Columbia Solar is a tremendous achievement that will not only help to meet Mayor Muriel Bowser’s climate and clean energy goals for the District, but will also help to reduce energy costs for low-income households. The District is proud to be a national leader in sustainability, and this project further demonstrates our commitment to deploying solar and developing scalable solutions in a way that prioritizes equitable access for all.”

L-R: Children’s National Hospital Vice President of Community Engagement, Advocacy & Government Affairs Tonya Kinlow; New Columbia Solar CEO Mike Healy; Councilmember Mary Cheh; DOEE Director Tommy Wells; PSC Commissioner Emile Thompson; Children’s National Hospital Chief Operating Officer Kathy Gorman; and DCSEU Director Ted Trabue.

The clean energy generated by this solar array, which is on the RIC parking garage, will be distributed through the Solar for All program, Mayor Bowser’s initiative to provide 100,000 low-to-moderate income families with the benefits of locally generated clean energy. This installation will serve more than 325 income-qualified D.C. families, saving each household up to $500 annually and saving these families up to $2.4 million over 15 years.

“This project is the perfect example of why operating a solar company in the District is so rewarding,” said NCS CEO Mike Healy. “I look at this project and see major decision-makers in D.C. coming together, in the middle of a global pandemic, to prioritize powering our city through clean energy and to offset utility expenses for the families in our community who are most in need.”

The installation began when Children’s National acquired a large five-story above-grade parking garage, which provided the perfect location for a cutting-edge solar array. The original goal for the parking garage was always to incorporate a solar array. However, the installation of the 1,148 kW system was an engineering feat, representing one of the District’s most complex solar systems.

Over the past two years operating DOEE’s Solar for All program, the D.C. Solar Energy Utility (DCSEU) has worked with local solar developers to install 130 community solar facilities across the District. These installations are expected to serve more than 4,000 income-qualified D.C. families, with more community solar projects slated to be developed in 2021 to serve an additional 2,000 households.

“It’s an honor to deliver the Solar for All program in partnership with the District government and the D.C. business community,” said DCSEU Director Ted Trabue. “These projects bring opportunities to District businesses, jobs to D.C. residents and critical electricity bill savings to families who need it, all while helping work toward a carbon-free D.C.”

As part of the larger commitment of Children’s National to positively impact the environment and the community, the organization has formed a Sustainability Council with the overall purpose to build a long-term commitment to sustainable practices; integrate sustainability in the areas of education, research, operations and community service; and incorporate sustainable designs in future construction plans.