PITTSBURGH — Hospitals save lives, but they’re also a complex ecosystem that produces toxic waste, relies on fossil fuels, and causes health problems from toxic emissions.
Change is difficult for healthcare organizations, but there is a growing movement among doctors, nurses, medical students and hospital system executives to wipe out the industry.
About 650 medical professionals from around the world gathered in Pittsburgh last week to reduce waste and air pollution, move away from fossil fuel investments, better integrate communities, reduce the industry’s climate warming emissions, And we strategized how to hear success stories from people in the medical field. The forefront of this work.
“[This] This is more than just a conference. We are intentionally building our movement,” said president and co-founder Gary Cohen. harmless health careis an organization that hosts clean med During the opening remarks at the conference. “This is our life’s work. Are you ready to go?”
Environmental burden of medical institutions
Ironically, the medical industry does a great deal of damage to the environment in ways that adversely affect human health.sector account of This is estimated to represent 4.4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and up to 9.8% of US greenhouse gas emissions.
RELATED: Visiting Medical Professionals Join Pittsburgh’s ‘Environmental Justice Tour’
Health hazards from pollution in the U.S. healthcare sector, including greenhouse gases, carcinogen emissions, and other toxic air pollutants, 2003-2013 estimated Americans have lost perfect health for over 400,000 years, defined as Lived for years without disease or disability.estimated to be around 8 million 1 in 5 deaths worldwidewhich are caused by air pollution and have more deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
There are also problems with institutional investment.There are over 1,200 private hospital systems in the United States, with an estimated Fossil fuel $10 billion.
Purification of the medical field
Those who have successfully launched new sustainability programs and policies in their organizations shared tools and tips.
Credit: Kristina Malsic for Environmental Health News
Physicians and nurses attending CleanMed included operations managers, sustainability directors, budget analysts, medical device providers, healthcare strategy consultants, and many others.
Those who have successfully launched new sustainability programs and policies in their organizations shared tools and tips.
Elizabeth McClellan was one of them. In the early 2000s, while working as a nursing administrator at the Maine Medical Center, she discovered that large amounts of unused supplies such as gloves, gowns, gauzes, bandages, and masks were dumped in the trash in patient rooms. I was worried about Or held in the operating room.
Having lived and worked abroad, McClellan knew that other parts of the world were in dire need of these supplies, so he began collecting them. Her hospital had no place to store her saved supplies, so she took them home.
By 2009, the bottom floor of her home was filled with about 11,000 pounds of salvaged medical supplies, which she eventually stores, transports and donates to hospitals in need around the world. I found a way. After years of running the project entirely alone, McClellan expanded its operations to a local nonprofit. partners for global healthComposed of 10 staff and 800 volunteers, it has saved over £180,000 of medical supplies from landfills to countries in need including Ukraine, Syria, Turkey, Zambia, Haiti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya. have sent them.
“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission,” she said. zero waste. “It’s worked for my whole career and it worked for this project.”
In one of two talks on reducing single-use plastics, Dr. Sarah Angelilli, director of perioperative education at Allegheny Health Network, spoke about the introduction of reusable ventilators. Dr. Preetri Preeti Meerotra, senior medical director at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, shares tips for finding “someone to help pull the levers” and switch to reusable products We discussed both the infection control and economic benefits of And Daniel Vukelić, president of the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors, warned that false promises of “chemical recycling” of single-use plastics are linked to many climate and environmental health concerns. Harmless health care also call A global plastics treaty is currently being negotiated for the second time in Paris this week with the aim of denying medical exemptions.
Other health professionals are committed to setting and achieving renewable energy goals, managing hazardous pharmaceutical waste, engaging clinicians in climate action, and encouraging patients to eat healthy, sustainable food in hospitals and at home. shared advice on incorporating environmental justice and community health advocacy into clinical care, including increasing access to . Health Care Without Harm partners with hospitals around the world to help them achieve these kinds of goals. practice green health program.
“In the last year or two, hospitals are increasingly looking outside their walls when talking about community resilience and environmental health,” said Paul, executive director of Health Care Without Harm. Bogart says. EHN. “They are starting to think about the economic factors of local health and the social determinants of health: housing, transportation, employment, exposure to polluting facilities, and so on.”
“For many healthcare organizations, such efforts are just beginning,” Bogart added. “Our relationship with community leaders is just beginning.”
why pittsburgh?
While walking along the Allegheny River with scenic views of the city’s iconic yellow bridge, the group learned that Pittsburgh was once so polluted by the steel industry that it was dubbed “hell without a lid.”Credit: Kristina Malsic for Environmental Health News
The CleanMed conference was attended by delegates from at least 15 countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Nepal, South Korea and Taiwan.
Previous conferences have taken place in cities across the United States and around the world, with conference organizers connecting local events with the broader movement.
Related: Environmental Health Guide for Southwest Pennsylvania
In Pittsburgh, that meant acknowledging the city’s industrial history, discussing ongoing issues with air pollution and childhood lead exposure, and addressing the critical role played by the extractive industries in particular. fracking Petrochemical development plays a role in shaping the health of the region. It also meant questioning the healthcare industry’s obligations to communities affected by these issues.
“The fossil fuel and petrochemical industries need to externalize harm,” Cohen said at a plenary session on building partnerships with health organizations and community advocacy. “We need to understand who is hurt by an economy based on fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. What does it mean to support
