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Defense Health Agency Sustainability Program

The DHA Sustainability and Environmental Programs operate with the understanding that “there is a direct link between healing the individual and healing this planet… we will not have healthy individuals, healthy families, and healthy communities if we do not have clean air, clean water, and healthy soil.”*

The DHA Sustainability Policy, DHA-AI 4710.01, establishes sustainability goals and environmental compliance targets for military hospitals and clinics and requires the formation of cross-functional sustainability teams to promote a resource-aware stewardship culture.

*Source: Rossi, Mark, and Tom Lent, “Creating Safe and Healthy Spaces: Selecting Materials That Support Healing,” Designing the 21st Century Hospital (September 2006), p. 55

Our Management Approach

  • Enable military hospitals and clinics through Sustainability Teams
  • Develop and enforce policies
  • Annual data call
  • Accountability
  • Cross-functional support and engagement
  • Work with Commands and host installations
  • Capture trend data
  • Industry benchmarking
  • Recognize achievements

Our Partner: Practice Greenhealth

We partner with Practice Greenhealth (PGH) to track sustainability metrics and allow military hospitals and clinics to compare their sustainability performance against their civilian counterparts. PGH is a membership organization representing health care organizations committed to the integration of sustainability principles and practices as a means to better protect the health of patients, staff, the communities served, and the environment.PGH Awards are a recognized Standard of Excellence, and topic areas correspond with Sustainability Focus Areas for Federal Agencies.
  • Third party validation of sustainability efforts
  • Trend data; relevant metrics
  • Facility report cards to compare against National facilities/peers (mostly hospitals/ambulatory care centers)
  • Review and revise questions to reflect emerging issue areas
  • Knowledge sharing through webinars, SME access, training, and case study results

Publications

Quarterly Newsletters

Sustainability Reports

Toolbox

This EPA calculator expresses quantities of GHGs in terms of metrics such as number of cars, gallons of gasoline, acres of forest, etc. This calculator is useful for expressing GHG reductions or emissions in a way that is easier to comprehend.

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ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. Results are already adding up. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2009 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 30 million cars - all while saving nearly $17 billion on their utility bills.

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Practice Greenhealth created the Greenhealth Academy to offer innovative, essential information through programs covering all aspects of sustainability in health care. The trusted source for vetted, cutting-edge information, Greenhealth Academy offers webinars, eLearning, sharing calls, and face-to-face programs designed for all functional areas of green teams within the health care sector.

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Interactive resource which contains regulated medical waste  definitions, statues, and guidelines for each state.

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The Environmental Protection Agency put together a site of resource, events, and ideas to assit in planning for Earth Day on April 22nd if each year.

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Did You Know?

  • If the U.S. health care system were a country, it would rank 13th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions!1
  • Within the U.S., health care comprises 10% of greenhouse gas emissions2
  • The DOD considers climate change to be a serious threat to national security and international stability, referring to it as a “threat multiplier”3
  • Air pollution kills at least 7 million people worldwide every year4
  • Sustainability saves!  The 327 hospitals that submitted data to PGH in 2018 saved $68 million on sustainability initiatives5

Sources

  1. Matthew J. Eckelman, Jodi Sherman. Environmental Impacts of the U.S. Health Care System and Effects on Public Health. PLOS ONE, 2016; 11 (6): e0157014 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157014
  2. Health Care Without Harm Climate Action Playbook: https://climatecouncil.noharm.org/
  3. Defense News: https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2021/01/27/climate-change-is-now-a-national-security-priority-for-the-pentagon/
  4. World Health Organization
  5. Practice Greenhealth

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Report
Oct 23, 2024

DHA Sustainability Report 2024

.PDF | 1013.38 KB

The Defense Health Agency 2024 Annual Sustainability Report showcases the strides made in sustainability across the Military Health System, including highlights from Practice Greenhealth and advances in the Environmental Program.

Last Updated: October 25, 2024
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