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Healthcare organizations across the country want to become more resilient by accelerating their sustainable practices, optimizing their resources, and reducing their emissions. To answer this call, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ launched the Sustainable Healthcare Certification program for U.S. hospitals and critical access hospitals. This certification provides a framework to help organizations expand or continue their decarbonization efforts and to receive public recognition of their commitment and achievements in contributing to sustainability.

Certification Benefits

Achieving Sustainable Healthcare Certification is not only beneficial for the environment but also for the organization's bottom line, patient outcomes, reputation, and compliance efforts. It aligns health care organizations with sustainable practices and positions them as mindful and responsible care providers in an increasingly environmentally conscious world.
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Integration Across the Organization

Sustainable healthcare practices enable organizations to implement projects that effectively adapt to the impacts of environmental events and natural disasters, ensuring continuity of care and supporting recovery efforts within affected communities. Through the Sustainable Healthcare Certification, organizations have been able to strengthen their internal channels of engagement and overall sustainability governance structures. Sustainability becomes further integrated into decision making processes based on alignment with leadership. This has led to organizational efficiencies, operational cost savings, and enhancing resilience.
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Operational Cost Savings

By implementing energy-efficient technologies and optimizing waste management strategies, hospitals can achieve operational efficiencies that result in cost reductions. These savings can then be redirected to patient care, infrastructure improvements, research, and other critical areas. 
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Improved Health Outcomes

Sustainable practices in hospitals and health systems can lead to improved health outcomes for patients, staff, and the community. By reducing chemical exposures, improving air quality, and implementing infection control measures, hospitals create healthier environments that promote healing and prevent the transmission of diseases.
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Enhanced Resilience

Resilience-based patient safety practices are essential for maintaining patient care and safety during both routine operations and emergency responses. There is a mutual reinforcement between both resilience and decarbonization. Effective decarbonization strategies can enhance resilience. For example, implementing energy efficiency projects or transitioning to renewable energy sources not only reduces emissions but also decreases reliance on the energy grid, making a facility less vulnerable to things like price fluctuations and supply disruptions.
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Enhanced Reputation and Community Engagement

Achieving sustainability certification demonstrates a commitment towards responsible and ethical practices. This can enhance the organization’s reputation in the community and attract patients, employees, and stakeholders who prioritize sustainable health care options. 
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Sustainable Healthcare Collaborations

Healthcare sustainability requires engagement and partnerships across the entire health care sector, as well as with industry stakeholders such as employers, regulators, and community-based organizations. If we’re looking at sustainability in healthcare, it has to involve the entire sector. It’s critical that we all come together as a united community to address it.

What It Takes to Be Certified

Any hospital or critical access hospital may apply for the voluntary Sustainable Healthcare Certification if the following requirements are met: 

  • The organization must be in the United States, operated by the U.S. government, or operated under a charter of the U.S. Congress. 
  • The organization is a hospital or critical access hospital that is compliant with applicable federal laws, including applicable Medicare Conditions of Participation. 
  • At the time of review, the organization needs to have baseline emissions data for three emission sources and an action plan to reduce.
  • At the time of recertification, the organization needs to have 24 months of data and demonstrate a reduction of three emission sources. 

Organizations who apply for certification will be required to measure data on a minimum of three of the following categories below:

  • Energy use (fuel combustion)
  • Purchased electricity (purchased grid electricity, district steam, chilled and hot water)
  • Anesthetic gas use, including volatile agents and nitrous oxide
  • Pressurized metered-dose inhaler use
  • Fleet vehicle carbon-based fuel use (from organization owned vehicles)
  • Waste disposal

Certified organizations will convert those measurements to metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e).

We Can Help

We’re here to support you at each step in your journey to develop and improve your sustainability program. Visit our resource center to find practical strategies to help you as you pursue certification and request the prepublication requirements.
Resource centerReview Process Guide