Eight of the Washington State’s largest health care systems have formed an alliance to address climate change.
The stated goal of the group, called the Washington Health Care Climate Alliance, to bring their health care’s expertise and experience to the legislative and regulatory process for climate-smart policies.
These policies would include those affecting energy, transportation, food, waste, infrastructure, and community resilience.
The alliance includes:
- CHI Franciscan
- Kaiser Permanente
- MultiCare
- Providence St. Joseph Health
- Seattle Children’s
- Swedish Health Services
- UW Medicine
- Virginia Mason Medical Center
The organizations represent 40 Washington hospitals and over 1,000 health care facilities, which serve almost 9 million patients in the state, t
Joining other health system leaders across the country
The Washington Alliance is launching in collaboration with Health Care Without Harm, an national organization that works with the health care sector in reducing its climate footprint, building climate-smart and resilient hospitals and communities, and mobilizing health care’s ethical, economic, and political influence to advance the transition to a low-carbon future.
Health Care Without Harm also supports similar alliances in California and Massachusetts.
“Health care needs to expand its healing mission to healing communities and the planet which sustains us all,” says Health Care Without Harm’s president and co-founder Gary Cohen. “Hospitals are on the front lines of the climate crisis. Health care must be part of the solution, mitigating their footprint, investing in climate-ready facilities, and becoming advocates for clean energy policies. The health systems in this new alliance are forging a path for climate-smart health care and the promotion of healthy, resilient communities.”
