Health care execs: How a Clay County hospital achieves sustainability goals at any scale

Health care is meant to maintain and restore physical, mental or emotional well-being. Health care systems and their hospitals have a mission to improve and sustain lives in their communities, which includes reducing the amount of waste leaving their hospitals.

Estimates show that the U.S. health care system accounts for 8.5% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Of that 8.5%, more than one-third of the emissions come from hospitals. As climate change induces more severe storms and wider temperature swings throughout the year, it also impacts individuals’ health and wellness.

Hospitals are minimizing their environmental impact to support the communities they serve.

Ascension St. Vincent’s Clay County in Middleburg is doing just that. Together with its facilities management partner Medxcel, the hospital has implemented award-winning waste-reduction programs as part of Ascension’s national sustainability efforts.

Organic waste is a substantial and perhaps surprising emitter of greenhouse gases. The USDA estimates that 30-40% of the country’s food supply goes to landfills. A significant portion of that is due to cosmetic standards ― produce that does not appear as consumers expect.

On Earth Day 2021, Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County launched its “Unusual but Usable Produce” program. The program sought to reduce waste from the hospital’s cafeterias by distributing healthy food items that might have otherwise been disposed of due to an unattractive appearance.

Not all food products can be redistributed, however. Food waste is also produced during meal preparation and from uneaten items delivered to patients or sold to guests and associates. In most Ascension hospitals, this can amount to 15% of Ascension’s total municipal solid waste sent to landfills.

Following a pilot at other Ascension facilities, Medxcel installed a food waste digester at Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County that uses organic microorganisms and oxygen to digest food leftovers. Instead of going to landfills and releasing potent methane gas, the resulting gray water from the digester is discharged to local municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Food waste digesters are a relatively low-cost tool to implement and may be especially attractive in locations that do not have access to industrial composting options. They also provide benefits beyond direct waste reduction. There is a financial benefit from reduced waste hauling expenses; they can minimize the risk of associated injuries depending on current environmental services disposal processes; and they can reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions from the value chain.

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Thanks in part to these two waste reduction programs, Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County contributed directly to Ascension’s bold goals of reducing municipal solid waste by 6% and greenhouse gas emissions by 5% across the system from FY21-FY23.

In recognition of Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County’s role, the hospital was named a 2023 Sustainability Champion by the American Society of Health Care Engineering.

Medxcel demonstrates that sustainability goals are achievable with three key components:

Setting goals

The first goals are the most important to set. Setting goals opens the door to gathering data, measuring results and celebrating success. As an organization sees an impact, it can begin increasing expectations and achieving loftier goals.

Leadership support

An organization’s leadership must be champions of sustainability efforts. Enthusiasm across the entire leadership team leads to support that can be scalable to a full system and move the needle to reach and exceed sustainability goals.

Employee engagement

Whether this is through a Green Team, a chairperson who is passionate about sustainability or simply a group of team members who advocate for recycling, employee buy-in is as important as leadership support. Setting goals at a leadership level will encourage Green Team members to learn more and is an ideal opportunity to invite all associates across the organization to participate in the program. Those most passionate about sustainability will provide both expertise and enthusiasm their colleagues can embrace.

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Hospitals and health care systems that reduce the waste they send to landfills are helping the environment at a global scale and creating healthier communities for those they serve. When health care leaders prioritize waste reduction efforts, they positively impact local public health while also contributing to larger environmental initiatives.

The greater health care community, working together, can accomplish environmental goals.

Dan Scher, vice president of strategic planning and sustainability, Medxcel, and Bruce Warner, performance improvement manager, Ascension Florida.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Vincent's waste reduction programs support environment, community