Why Sustainable Practices Matter.

Abstract

Sustainable thinking provides an opportunity to create new value to the mission of health care, rather than settling for less. Success stories and case studies exist, which if replicated can have an enormous positive effect. The future holds promise. Many health care organizations are signing up with efforts such as the Healthier Hospitals initiative, a program of the Practice Greenhealth membership organization for sustainable health care, to set new standards and learn more about methods to reduce the environmental footprint and negative health effects from the delivery of care to their communities. Providing safe and affordable care to patients and their families must remain paramount in the decisions that are made, but good environmental stewardship can be achieved. Setting organizational goals holds the key to finding the optimal balance.