Q&A Spotlight

Jefferson has always had a longstanding tradition of being environmentally and sustainably aware as early as 2011 when we were the first healthcare system that I know of that contracted directly with a wind power generator, Iberdrola, for 35% of our electric power. We have taken a stance over the years that we want to be the industry leader in that area. We want to make sure that we are being good stewards of the environment for our community.

Throughout our hospital campuses, we have an overarching approach to processes and what is expected but then our specific sustainability programs are tailored to each facility. We started preparing for the certification by putting our documents together. We created a 70-page report highlighting our programs and our different measurement statistics. We have many ways of reducing energy and becoming sustainable, so we went through and highlighted the programs that we employ.

The review was conducted very professionally over two days. The reviewers who conducted the review were experienced in healthcare sustainability, asked detailed questions, and made the process educational. We asked them a question about developing a program in the future to reduce anesthetic gases. Not being on the clinical side of things, we didn’t have any knowledge about what it entailed. The reviewers walked us through what would be involved with a program like that. After the review took place, we started working with our clinical colleagues to discuss implementing an anesthetic gas reduction program.

We have an energy team that does energy treasure hunts. We get together and go through the facilities, the mechanical rooms, the electrical rooms, and we look for inefficient equipment, whether it be a leak or open valves or things that just aren’t right. And by doing those proactive tours, we develop a list of things that we can do to make simple corrections or very small-scale upgrades that don’t cost a lot of money, but that will help hospitals save energy and thus become more sustainable. That’s a simple program that anybody can do. I think many facilities do maintenance and take care of work orders. But being proactive and going out and seeking out issues helps hospitals to be more sustainable.

We also do a lot of LED lighting replacements and sometimes those can be expensive. We worked with our energy suppliers, PECO in the Philadelphia area, and they have great rebates such as providing four-foot LED lighting fixtures for $1. Anybody can buy a couple hundred light bulb fixtures for a dollar each. Being aware of the various programs out there that are being offered can allow facilities to succeed.

I think a lot of hospitals might be tentative to get involved with the SHC process because they feel the need to have a big co-generation station or big multimillion dollar plant upgrade to save energy and you really don’t need that. We don’t have that here at Jefferson, but we have a multitude of programs we were able to speak to. So, the aha moment for me was that you can achieve Joint Commission SHC by just doing simple things every day to not only save energy but reduce waste. The Joint Commission did a really good job of putting the certification program together. Hospitals can take advantage of the certification without having to implement a big energy project or spend a lot of money.