Hospitals find savings in sustainability efforts

Hospitals have been pressed to take efforts to reduce the amount of waste and pollutants they generate, and health systems are finding savings in sustainability.

The Providence health system saved $46 million in 2025 with its efforts to reduce waste and use more renewable energy, says Beth Schenk, the system’s chief environmental stewardship officer.

Schenk tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that healthcare organizations shouldn’t view sustainability programs as prohibitively expensive.

“It really is a common, I would say, misconception that people can't afford to do this,” Schenk says. “You know what we say, and what we can now demonstrate with our data is, you can't afford not to do this.”

• Read more: Providence and sustainability: Reducing waste, saving millions

On Earth Day, it’s worth taking a look at how hospitals are approaching sustainability.

Hospitals and health systems by their nature generate a great deal of waste, and since they operate around the clock, they also consume enormous amounts of energy.

The U.S. healthcare industry produces 8.5% of America’s carbon emissions, federal officials have said. And hospitals have been getting more pressure to look at ways to reduce their environmental impact, especially as they are meant to improve the health of their communities.

The Joint Commission launched a voluntary certification program on sustainability in 2024. Dr. Jonathan Perlin, the president and CEO of the Joint Commission, told Chief Healthcare Executive in a 2024 interview that it was a rare case of the commission being asked to provide more standards when it comes to the environment.

“It really is in the context of the first adage of health care: do no harm,” Perlin said. “And as a completely inadvertent consequence of trying to do the best for individuals and society, health care, it turns out, is harming the environment.”

• Read more: Most clinicians want hospitals to act on climate change

Tangible changes

AdventHealth has focused on improving its sustainability and doing better for the environment. The health system has established virtual purchase power agreements with a wind farm and a solar farm, both in Texas.

David Banks, president and CEO of AdventHealth, tells Chief Healthcare Executive that sustainability is a high priority. Under the system’s previous CEO, Terry Shaw, AdventHealth joined other health systems in pledging to reduce emissions during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

“That pledge has helped guide our work, and that's really that's resulted in some very tangible changes inside of the organization,” Banks says. “It's changed the way we buy solar and wind power out on the commodity markets, and so that we fundamentally change the way we source power for the organization through various offsets.”

AdventHealth operates 57 hospitals and hundreds of other locations in nine states. Banks says local markets have the flexibility to pursue sustainability projects that make the most sense for them.

“We have 19 active projects going on across the company, and it's everything from looking at anesthesia gas, getting Styrofoam out of cafeterias, as well as some other cool things, like fleet farming,” he says. “One of our campuses has brought in these refrigerator trucks that allow them to do hydroponic growing, and they supply lettuce and other vegetables.”

AdventHealth has also installed more than 7,500 solar panels at its corporate campus in Orlando.

Marisa Farabaugh, chief supply chain officer for AdventHealth, said in a presentation at the 2025 HIMSS conference that the health system’s sustainability efforts can offer strong returns.

“A lot of times people have this thinking that investing in green energy, or all of the work that we're doing in this space is just capital intensive and there's no return,” Farabaugh said. “But actually there can be a return on these types of investments, a significant return.”

• Read more: Hospitals have a key asset for environmental programs: Younger workers

Efficiency pays for itself

Hospitals are increasingly looking to build new facilities that are more energy efficient, says Carl Boccuti, head of commercial specialty banking leasing channels at TD Equipment Finance.

“The buildings are getting more energy efficient, and hospitals really use up a lot of electricity, a lot of energy,” Boccuti tells Chief Healthcare Executive. “And now they're really focused on that, especially in the new buildings, you can really save a lot of money building out the new technology for energy savings.”

“You're definitely seeing a big push in that,” he says of sustainability efforts. “And one of the reasons is, again, the efficiency, it pays for itself.”

Sutter Health has been engaging in efforts to reduce its environmental impact, placing more solar panels across the California-based system.

Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health, says the system continuously looks for ways to be more sustainable.

“We're continuing to look at how we use solar in our organization, and continue to make sure we're good stewards, make sure our power plants are modern, so they're the most efficient possible,” Thomas tells Chief Healthcare Executive. “We also look at the type of power that we use and make sure that we are looking at the most sustainable option there. So, yeah, I would say that it's constantly top of mind, and something we work on every day.”

Health systems can find it overwhelming to undertake major sustainability programs. But Schenk says hospitals and health systems looking to start have a number of options. Health systems also don’t need to start with a massive system-wide effort. Organizations can start small, even on a unit basis, she says.

“A hospital could start where they have interest,” she says. “Maybe it's energy. A lot of places start with energy. Maybe it's food. They could work on their food systems. Maybe it's waste. They could do that. Maybe it's resilience.”

John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, told Chief Healthcare Executive® in a 2025 interview that hospitals need to look at sustainability efforts to deal with climate change as a necessity, rather than an aspirational goal. Tampa General, which has to prepare for hurricanes, built a power station and placed it more than 30 feet above sea level.

“This stuff's expensive,” he said. “But you know what's even more expensive? Not doing something.”

• Read more: For hospitals, building around climate change isn’t optional