CHARLOTTE, N.C (News Release) – Atrium Health has further deepened its commitment to reducing carbon emissions by signing the Health Care Sector Pledge at a White House event on Thursday, June 30. Eugene A. Woods, president, and chief executive officer, and Dr. David Callaway, professor of emergency medicine and chief of crisis operations and sustainability, represented Atrium Health at the event, including a roundtable discussion with the Biden Administration. Atrium Health joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with industry colleagues to pledge meaningful action to decarbonize the healthcare sector and make healthcare facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The June 30 White House event offered a sector-wide display of cooperation between Atrium Health, its private sector peers, and federal health systems. The event included leaders from companies and organizations representing hospitals
and health centers, as well as pharmaceutical companies, medical device-makers, suppliers, and group purchasing organizations.
“One lesson we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is the health care industry has a moral obligation, the social responsibility, and the technical skills to tackle big, complex challenges – including climate change,” said Woods. ”As a leader in health, hope, and healing, we must do everything we can to protect and preserve the environment that sustains our communities.”
In signing this pledge, Atrium Health has committed to meet the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and is already taking steps to reduce its climate
impacts. This includes emissions reduction from on-site energy use, waste anesthetic gases, vehicle fleets, and refrigerants; the designation of an executive-level leader to spearhead emissions reduction; conducting an inventory of its
supply chain emissions impact, and developing a climate resilience plan for continuous operations that includes anticipating the needs of groups in its community that experience a disproportionate risk of climate-related harm.
The World Health Organization places climate change as the single greatest human health threat of the 21st century. And, in September 2021, more than 200 medical and health journals worldwide, including The Lancet and New England
Journal of Medicine, co-published an editorial identifying global temperature rise as a major threat to public health. Research in recent years, including information from Yale and other studies, shows the U.S. health care sector is
responsible for 8.5% to 10% of U.S. total carbon emissions.
“Climate change is already damaging human health and health care providers are on the front line,” said Callaway, who will be leading Atrium Health’s initiatives for achieving its pledge goals. “Climate change exacerbates lung disease, increases heart disease, worsens mental health and community violence, and results in massive increases in heat-related injuries. Clean water, clean air and green spaces are key for good health. As healers, we have to do our part to make changes that protect our environment and our health.”
The Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), part of HHS under the Assistant Secretary for Health, developed the health sector climate pledge in conjunction with the White House to help focus industry response to climate
change. In addition to reducing their carbon footprint, signatories also commit to producing detailed plans to build climate resilience for their facilities and the communities they serve.
“Public health decisions have to be based on the realities of climate change, and we all need to do more to make that happen at the national level,” said ADM Rachel Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health. “We’re seeing right now what extreme temperatures and more severe storms can do to human health, environmental quality and our physical infrastructure. It’s great to see so many different companies and organizations come together to decarbonize and become partners in protecting human health from climate change. Today’s announcement is just the beginning of a longer ongoing effort with partners from across the medical sector, which is exactly the kind of big response we need as a country.”
Atrium Health began its energy efficiency journey in 2012, setting a goal to achieve a 20% energy reduction over five years. Since then, Atrium Health has invested over $12.5 million in energy efficiency projects, such as lighting
retrofits and efficient temperature regulation control strategies in operating suites. Atrium Health has now surpassed a 30% reduction from the 2012 baseline.
