Last month, we were fortunate to host SUNY Chief Sustainability Officer Carter Strickland who presented an update on sustainability efforts at the SUNY level and shared the SUNY Chancellor’s vision on sustainability. During his presentation, he noted the importance of higher education as we shape the physicians and policymakers of the future and prepare them for climate change.
At Stony Brook University Hospital, our longstanding commitment to sustainability has proven to be quite successful. Our patients and the communities we serve are the beneficiaries of the work that we’ve collectively accomplished for nearly a decade, and we are widely considered by many as a sustainability leader in the healthcare field.
As a result of our leadership, ingenuity and hard work, Stony Brook University Hospital was recognized again this year by Practice Greenhealth as a national leader in environmental sustainability and earned this year’s Greenhealth Emerald Award. This award recognizes the hospital, as part of the top 20 percent, for its ongoing commitment to improving its environmental performance and efforts to build sustainability and resiliency into the operations and culture of the institution.
Additionally, the hospital received top honors in Practice Greenhealth’s Circles of Excellence Awards, which recognize hospitals that have not only earned an award for all-around sustainability achievement but have also been identified as one of up to the 10 highest performing hospitals nationwide in each area of sustainability expertise.
Stony Brook University Hospital was awarded with Circle of Excellence honors in the following categories:
- Leadership: This category represents high-performing hospitals that have a strong infrastructure supporting a long-term commitment to healthier environments through leadership vision, committee structure, reporting, data tracking, communication and education.
- Sustainable Procurement: This category celebrates the best in environmentally preferable purchasing programs. Facilities were evaluated on their supporting policies, interactions with group purchasing organizations and suppliers, environmentally preferable contracts and use of environmental attributes in request for proposals and business reviews.
As part of our sustainability efforts, we have also continued to focus on our commitment to the White House-Health and Human Services Health Sector Climate Pledge to decarbonize the healthcare sector and make healthcare facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change. The hospital has formally committed to pursuing the White House’s climate goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 through a number of initiatives, including:
- Focusing on waste reduction and recycling
- Using safer and fewer chemicals
- Greening the Operating Room
- Growing and serving healthy foods
- Purchasing environmentally preferable materials
- Reducing energy and water consumption
- Implementing Green Building initiatives
- Increasing telehealth and telework options to decrease emissions from transportation
And, we are enormously proud that this past spring Stony Brook University was selected as the anchor institution for developing The New York Climate Exchange, the hub of the Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island.
Stony Brook University and Stony Brook University Hospital serve as exemplars of how dedication, innovation and hard work can lead the charge in the fight against climate change. I hope that these remarkable achievements inspire us all to take action in safeguarding our planet.
I’m grateful to all faculty and staff members of Stony Brook Medicine for your ongoing commitment and efforts toward sustainability as we move into next phases of planning and implementation. You are making a positive and lasting impact to ensure a greener future for all of us to live and work. Thank you.
Carol