At the University of Washington, we believe improving population health worldwide is a moral imperative, driven by our public mission of service to all; healthy people, healthy planet.
UW Sustainability is supporting a group of students, faculty, and staff from across the UW health sciences to launch two new initiatives connecting healthcare academics and operations with sustainability opportunities and challenges.
Multidisciplinary Efforts for Sustainability in Healthcare (MESH) engaged students, faculty, and staff from other areas of UW that intersect with healthcare, such as Built Environments (green building in healthcare design), Engineering (sustainability in medical device design), and Social Work (issues of access and social/environmental justice). Sustainability and Medicine (SAM) is a facility-by-facility effort to coordinate and optimize sustainability practices that improve patient outcomes, reduce expenses through resource and process efficiency, and strengthen stakeholder relationships.These initiatives also work closely with the UW Environmental Stewardship Committee subcommittee on Greening Health Sciences.
New & Noteworthy
- Industry Press Release | Kaiser Permanente Finalizes Agreement to Enable Carbon Neutrality in 2020.
- Webinar | UW's Dr. Jeremy Hess to present in Greenhealth Academy webinar on physician climate leadership. September 20, 2018. Registration is free. Practice Greenhealth
- Article | Vartorella, L. 2018. CA health systems form alliance to advise on climate change laws, regulations. Becker's Hospital Review
- Article | Fischer, B. 2018. Staying afloat: UW researchers improve a floating community in the Amazon. UW Civil & Environmental Engineering.
- Article | Fisher, B. 2018. Building Health: CEE researchers certify first Fitwell government building in Puget Sound. UW Civil & Environmental Engineering.
- Article | UW School of Dentistry. 2018. A greener smile is a good thing: UW student replaces plastic toothbrushes with bamboo in the School of Dentistry. UW School of Dentistry.
- Article | Eckart, K. 2018. UW Jackson School researcher: alternative energy is key to long-term health. UW News.
- Article | University of Washington. 2018. Grid by grid: UW researchers improve public health in Puerto Rico by installing clean energy systems. University of Washington.
- Article | Population Health. Environmental resilience as a pillar in the new Population Health Initiative. Population Health, University of Washington
- Article | UW News Staff. UW offers new concurrent graduate degree program for nurses with focus on population and global health. UW News.
Background
UW Health Sciences is comprised of many schools and colleges including Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Social Work. Global Health, Built Environments, Engineering, and the new Population Health Initiative are important academic units as well, among many others, that play a role in understanding and addressing the nexus of human health and the environment.
UW Medicine includes four hospitals – Harborview Medical Center (HMC), Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC), and Valley Medical Center. Together these medical centers admit more than 63,000 patients each year. In addition, it provides outpatient care for more than 1.3 million patients each year through its 12 UW Neighborhood Clinics and other primary and specialty care clinics. UW Medicine also includes Airlift Northwest and the UW Physicians practice group. UW Medicine also has strong connections to regional partners such as Seattle Children’s Hospital, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Boise VA Medical Center. UW Medicine hospitals and partner institutions have been reducing their environmental impacts for decades and are continuously seeking ways to improve patient care and operations; many of these efforts have been recognized locally and nationally.
For more information about SAM, MESH, or the Greening Health Sciences Initiative contact Sean Schmidt at sgs1@uw.edu or 206-616-1883.