Hospital systems' supply chain teams are increasingly working on environmental initiatives as climate change threatens the healthcare industry.
At Kaiser Permanente, the supply chain department is working on a yearslong commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. The Oakland, Calif.-based system is among more than 80 health systems and hospitals committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 in an HHS climate change pledge.
"We started with this idea that environmental health is human health, and therefore as a healthcare organization, it's our responsibility to protect our environment," said Steven Chyung, senior vice president and chief supply chain and procurement executive. "That goes to the idea that we know environmental impacts, climate change, are going to end up fundamentally impacting human health and how we deliver healthcare. ... It matters how and what we purchase."
To make progress on achieving net zero, Kaiser Permanente is incentivizing medical suppliers to engage in their own decarbonization goals. The system also prioritizes ordering products that have a quiet waste stream impact and do not include 11 chemicals of concern.
Minneapolis-based Allina Health is also keyed in on driving down waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The 13-hospital system intends to decrease its greenhouse emissions by 50% before 2028, and to keep pace, it plans to minimize emissions by at least 7% and use 6% less energy in 2024.
Sutter Health in Sacramento, Calif., is also working to only distribute digital mail to its 51,000-strong workforce across 22 hospitals.
Kaiser launched a similar project with its pharmacy distribution model, in which trucks used to deliver medications to every hospital at the same time. It's now staggered, with pharmacies accepting staggered deliveries. With the new focus on deploying full trucks, the system reduced miles and carbon dioxide emissions by 17%.