May 24th, 2010

Ever hear of Sustainable Health Care?

Recently I attended a conference called CleanMed whose mission “is to accelerate the health care sector’s commitment to environmental sustainability and regenerative health to improve the health of people and the environment”.  Makes sense that there is a strong link between the environmental health of our health care system and our own health.

Here at SDialogue, we’ve been chatting for some time about the connection between personal wellness and planet wellness where an individual’s desire to be healthy can lead to a personal lifestyle that is greener and treads more lightly on the earth. This approach fits perfectly with the green health care movement that has actually been going on for some time through the work of organizations like:

Practice Greenhealth describes itself as the nation’s “leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices.” The organization counts hospitals and health care industry businesses as its members and other “stakeholders engaged in the greening of healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment.” (Full disclosure: they are now a client of ours)

At Health Care Without Harm, the focus is on advocacy focusing on issues such as creating a mercury-free health care environment, advocating for healthy food systems and tackling climate change. On the climate change front, the group has formed partnerships with other organizations calling for capping carbon emissions as well as issuing reports urging for reduced-meat menus in hospitals because its greener.

With both organizations, the work is ambitious and bold, and breaks new ground in the health care community.

As someone who has worked with the health care industry for a number of years, it has been an enlightening couple of months learning about the great work of these organization and others in the health care space focused on raising the awareness of the link between sustainable behavior and personal health.

If your firm is in the health care space and is looking for a way to bolster your sustainability efforts, consider joining and supporting these organizations. Simultaneously, start considering ways that your company’s products or services can more clearly support the connection between personal wellness and planet wellness.