Sustainability will one day be an integral part of hospital strategic planning, but we're not there yet - read "Sustainability - It's a Marathon Not a Sprint."
US hospitals currently lack green gurus, but I'm betting within the next 2 years we'll see the first Chief Sustainability Officers (most likely at progressive organizations that are hiring Chief Experience Officers).
Without a doubt, many hospitals and healthcare systems are significantly behind the curve when it comes to sustainability efforts and greening the supply chain.
Some, like Dell Childrens MC, are getting it right early, but we don't have many comprehensive examples of what's working or what we'd save by going green.
If you want to learn about sustainability reporting in the healthcare setting, good luck... not many events are focusing on eco-efforts and sustainability initiatives for hospitals, and it is even more difficult to find real-world case studies on topics like greening the supply chain with diverse incentivization models and going carbon neutral.
Later this week I'll be blogging and tweeting live from the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency, an annual event planned by the Global Reporting Initiative.
The group has developed a comprehensive set of sustainability reporting recommendations - called the G3 Guidelines (PDF), but as of yet haven't established a sector guide for healthcare.
So, Health Management Rx readers, how would you describe the status of sustainability in the healthcare sector in your particular corner of the world? What do we need to work on? What are success stories?
Consumers are using the web to search for eco-information on other topics - global warming, cars, carbon credits, etc., but not to decide which healthcare goods/services to purchase based on enviro-friendliness and eco-awareness.
Here is a link to the conference - what would you like to learn from the sessions?
Here's what I'm interested in after reviewing the schedule:
- Carbon Disclosure (Academic Session) - hospitals are greening the supply chain; some are even considering carbon disclosure requirements with vendors...
- Climate Change (Forum) - general interest (carbon offsets? role of carbon exchange markets in healthcare)
- Employee Motivation and Commitment (Forum) - healthcare organizations focus on individual sustainability and are finding a cultural focus on environmental sustainability helps keep employees motivated and involved as stakeholders engaged in efficient operations
- Business Management and Corporate Governance Views on Sustainability Reporting Today (Arena Debate III) - another area of increasing interest to hospital/healthcare systems
No comments:
Post a Comment