In this article, Dr. Ravindra Gupta explains the importance of environmentally friendly initiatives for hospitals, and lists some of the changes that were recently made at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

A hospital is one of the few pillars in a community. It is a beacon of health that signifies the well-being of individuals and the community. A patient imagines entering a hospital sick and coming out improved physically and mentally. The community in general also envisions a hospital as a wonderful addition. But does a hospital really live up to this ideal? Unfortunately, the answer is undeniably no. In fact, a health care system inadvertently harms a community, mostly through negative environmental impacts. While the benefits of a hospital clearly outweigh the harms, these negative impacts definitely deserve closer inspection. Hospitals that tackle these negative impacts in a systematic way are called “green hospitals”.

In other words, a green hospital is one where the management understands the negative environmental impacts and takes steps to mitigate and negate them. This is not done out of the pure goodness of their hearts either. Green hospitals have been shown to increase financial gains, improve patient outcomes, improve staff health, reduce staff turnover, as well as create an improved perception in the community.¹

So what are the negative environmental impacts, and why does it matter? Take a step back and consider a hospital as a “machine” made to produce a desired outcome: a healthy patient. You put energy, materials, time, and natural resources into this machine for it to work. However, you also get byproducts. This includes regulated medical waste that has to be incinerated, releasing chemicals and toxins into the air. Municipal waste has to be put in a landfill, which takes up precious green space. Greenhouse gasses are released from natural resource use. Pharmaceuticals and toxins are mixed with the wastewater. Also, in order to get this machine to work, you have to shuttle people back and forth over thousands of miles, which has its own adverse effects.

If you look into the inner workings of the “machine”, other byproducts are revealed. Volatile organic compounds originate from carpets, paints, mattresses, and other finished materials. Mercury arises from thermostats, thermometers, light bulbs, and other hospital equipment. Phthalates and dioxin come from PVC plastics, which are used for saline bags, tubing, and ventilator equipment. Pesticides that are toxic by definition are used in landscaping. Arsenic, asbestos, benzene, CO, lead, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and radon are also other toxic byproducts.