by Brianna Crandall — February 24, 2017 — The 2016 winners of the 2020 Challenge Climate Champion Awards were recently announced by global environmental advocate Health Care Without Harm’s Global Green and Healthy Hospitals initiative, which has 744 members in 42 countries on six continents representing over 21,700 hospitals and health centers.
From Sweden to New Zealand, Costa Rica to South Africa and the Americas, these health-care facilities and sector organizations are leading the transformation to climate-smart, resilient health care around the globe. By using their innovation, ingenuity, investments, and voice, they are reducing their climate footprint, developing low-carbon models of care, adapting to stand resilient to a changing climate, and advocating for policies to protect the future health of the planet.
Global Green and Healthy Hospitals recognized the hard work, dedication, and accomplishments of hospitals and organizations in all regions of the world with the 2020 Climate Champion Awards of 2016 (see complete list online).
As one example, the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care was honored for leading the development and implementation of the Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit, developed with support from Health Canada. The online toolkit’s Facilitator’s Guide introduces the Toolkit and guides users through a suggested approach to resiliency assessments; an Assessment Checklist helps organizations determine their level of resiliency, and the Practices Resource Guide provides additional benefit.
The Checklist helps guide questions within a health organization’s practices in several key areas such as emergency management, facilities management, health-care services, food service and supply-chain management. Completion of the assessment by staff with knowledge and experience in the target areas will increase awareness and inform resiliency activities to reduce climate-change risks for the organization and its infrastructure, says the Coalition.
