GHSI Announces Ending
January 15, 2010 — Please note that the Board of the Global Health and Safety Initiative (GHSI) voted to dissolve GHSI and we will be closing on January 29, 2010. GHSI's Board is supportive of the safety and sustainability work that has been done, but decided there were more efficient and effective ways to achieve sector-wide leadership and environmental sustainability improvements in today's economic and political climate. We express our thanks to the health systems and nonprofits and other partners that supported GHSI's work to improve patient, workplace and community health and safety. Thank you for your interest and support of GHSI and for continuing to grow the sustainability movement.
This website will remain online until March 31, 2010. We encourage you to visit the Document Library to download the resources that have been developed. After March 31, we encourage you to work with our partner nonprofits The Center for Health Design, Health Care Without Harm, Healthy Building Network, Practice Greenhealth, and others. All inquiries may continue to be directed to info[AT]globalhealthsafety.org.
November 11, 2009
Research Agenda Released by Research Collaborative
The Research Collaborative has released a new white paper: A Research Agenda for Advancing Patient, Worker and Environmental Health and Safety in the Health Care Sector. Based on several research overview papers and interviews with executives of key federal agencies and hospital and health care systems, this paper identifies research priorities within the health care sector in the US centering on patient, worker and environmental safety. With this paper, the Research Collaborative aims to promote discussion and encourage the development of research projects in key areas. Download the paper from the Document Library.
November 10, 2009
PHAROS Public Launch
GHSI partner the Healthy Building Network is pleased to publicly launch the Pharos project, an online tool which allows users to research green building materials. It is an important tool not only to help architects, designers, and engineers to source healthier building materials, but for NGOs and others trying to understand better the green attributes associated with purchased products. more
November 9, 2009
New White Paper Released by Research Collaborative
The Accuracy of Alternatives to Mercury Sphygmomanometers has been released from the Research Collaborative; it comprises a review of the medical literature that evaluates the accuracy of mercury, aneroid, and oscillometric blood pressure devices. It can be downloaded from the Document Library.
July 21, 2009
Non-Profit Hospitals Included in House and Senate Energy Bills
Our coalition — GHSI, Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, several health systems, NGOs and others — has been successful in getting not-for-profit hospitals included as eligible for federal funds in both the House and Senate energy bills. Both the House and Senate bills contain (our) language to include "a not-for-profit hospital or not-for-profit inpatient health care facility, or a designated agent" among public institutions eligible for grants and loans for energy efficiency. The House energy bill is The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which was passed on June 26, 2009. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently released language for the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, S. 1462; our language is on page 281 of the bill. Our goal now is to make sure the language stays in the Senate bill through passage. Special thanks to government relations at Ascension Health and St. Joseph Health System and to everyone who worked on the coalition effort.
July 17, 2009
New Materials Educational Fact Sheet Released
A new fact sheet, Bisphenol A in Building Materials: High Performance Paint Coatings, has been added to the Document Library. This fact sheet provides an overview of the human health concerns associated with bisphenol A (BPA) related to the use of BPA in epoxy-based building materials, in particular high performance paint coatings.
June 22, 2009
GHSI Eco-Health Footprint Guide Released
The Eco-Health Footprint Guide: Measuring your Organization's Impact on Public Health and the Environment (Version 1.2, May 2009) was developed to assist organizations in getting started with the process of collecting data and measuring their footprint. The guide is a basic introduction to the Eco-Health Footprint and provides the reader with a business case, step-by-step approach, and key footprinting concepts and resources. more
June 19, 2009
CleanMed Keynote Address by Raymond J. Baxter, PhD
The annual CleanMed 2009 conference was held in Chicago May 18-20, 2009 and attracted 643 attendees from a range of disciplines representing a robust cross section of the health care sector. See the keynote address presentation delivered by Ray Baxter, PhD, Senior Vice President for Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy at Kaiser Permanente.
June 3, 2009
New White Papers Released by the Research Collaborative
Resilient Flooring & Chemical Hazards: A Comparative Analysis of Vinyl and Other Alternatives for Health Care, and Cleaning in Healthcare Facilities: Reducing human health effects and environmental impacts, are the first two releases from the Research Collaborative. These papers, along with brief descriptions of each, are available from the Research Workgroup page and the Document Library.
June 1, 2009
New Materials Educational Fact Sheet Released
A new fact sheet, Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) and Human Health Concerns, has been added to the Document Library. This fact sheet discusses exposures, health effects, current status, and alternatives for PFCs.
May 27, 2009
Health Sector Can Lead the Fight Against Climate Change
The World Health Organization and Health Care Without Harm released a discussion draft report, Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Planet, Healthy People — Addressing Climate Change in Health Care Settings. The report focuses on how the health sector can play a leadership role in reducing the magnitude and consequences of global warming by reducing its climate footprint, and provides examples from around the world of hospitals taking measures to reduce their climate footprint while improving public health more
May 13, 2009
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guidance Document for Health Care
What we buy matters. By selectively choosing the products health care purchases we can generate demand for inherently safer products and services for patients, workers, and the environment. The Global Health & Safety Initiative Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Guidance Document outlines the fundamental definitions, priorities and practices that advance the development and implementation of EPP in health care. The EPP Guidance Document is now endorsed by 14 health systems, GPOs and other supporters, signaling their intention to transform the healthcare market's purchasing policies and practices. more
March 23, 2009
"For the Greener Good: Healthy Hospitals" Video Posted
GHSI Executive Director Dr. Bob Eisenman and Center for Health Design Board Members Robin Guenther and Roger S. Ulrich spoke at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., as part of its "For the Greener Good" public series; this particular session was focused on Healthy Hospitals. View the video of the discussion.
February 2, 2009, Obama Urged to Invest in Healthcare
Provisions in Stimulus Package Could Help Hospitals Become Sustainable
More than 57,000 new jobs, 26,800 of which will be new clean energy jobs, could be created in the United States through the Renewable Energy and Green Healthcare Jobs Initiative offered to Congress and the Administration by Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth and Global Health and Safety Initiative. The health sector's proposed Initiative calls for $2 billion to be directed through the Economic Stimulus Package for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for the nation's hospitals and health care facilities. more
January 14, 2009, Revised GGHC Operations Section Released
Toolkit focuses on continuous improvement in facility operations
The most significant revision to the Green Guide for Health Care Version 2.2 Operations section to date has been released, marking the completion of a rigorous development process including two public comment periods. The Green Guide for Health Care, a project of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Health Care Without Harm, is the first voluntary, best practices green building and operations toolkit customized for the health care sector. more
January 13, 2009, Health Care Leadership National Action Plan
Health Care's Renewable Energy and Green Jobs Initiative
GHSI, with partners Health Care Without Harm and Practice GreenHealth, is leading an effort to create Health Care's Renewable Energy and Green Jobs Initiative - an idea that is in discussion with President-elect Obama's Transition Team. The Initiative proposes stimulus dollars for health care to become more energy efficient and increase use of renewable energy and explains why investing in health care energy improvements can help create jobs, reduce costs and be a wise and healthier investment for society. more
January 7, 2009, HCWH Press Release
C.H.W. Rejects G.E. and Cloned Foods
Health Care Without Harm praised the decision by Catholic Healthcare West to seek food suppliers who have agreed to seek alternatives to foods made with cloned animals or genetically engineered ingredients. The nation's leading Catholic hospital system took the position in recognition of the serious health, environmental and ethical concerns raised by these untested technologies. more
October 28, 2008
GHSI Director Eisenman Presentation at APHA
Dr. Bob Eisenman, Executive Director of GHSI, represented the GHSI at The Greening of Healthcare session at the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting in San Diego on October 28, 2008. In addition, GHSI founding system Kaiser Permanente was represented in the session by Ben Chu. View the abstracts and session information or view Dr. Eisenman's Dr. Eisenman's presentation.
October 21, 2008
GHSI on panel at HIG-PA Conference
GHSI Partners Robert Gotto, Senior Director of Sourcing for Kaiser Permanente, Mark Rossi, GHSI's Purchasing Workgroup Co-Leader and Lara Sutherland, Practice Greenhealth's Director of Environmental Purchasing presented at the recent Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) International Expo in Orlando for the session "Taking Green Purchasing Industry-Wide: Launching the Global Health & Safety Initiative." Gotto highlighted Kaiser's 24 implemented and successful Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) projects - 21 of the 24 did not result in increased cost! He also sent the primarily vendor audience a strong message: EPP is a differentiating criteria, and you need to know what is in your products. Rossi kicked off the session with an overview of GHSI and its Purchasing work, including the workgroup's top three priority commitment areas: PVC- and DEHP-free medical devices, halogen-free electronics, and post-consumer recycled content paper. Lara Sutherland gave an overview of GHSI partner Practice Greenhealth and its how its one-on-one consulting can support hospitals in implementation and support the sector-wide goals of GHSI. View their presentations here." more
September 30, 2008
RIPPLE Database Launched
GHSI's Built Environment Workgroup and the Center for Health Design launch the new beta version of the RIPPLE database for evidence-based design. RIPPLE is an open source, searchable database containing useable and relevant information to help users learn more about evidence-based design. more
The Global Health and Safety Initiative (GHSI) is a sector-wide collaboration to transform the way that healthcare designs, builds and operates its facilities, as well as the products used within those facilities.
GHSI aims to build a learning community and to leverage the expertise of its partners to support evidence-based improvements that advance patient and worker safety and environmental sustainability. While GHSI recognizes that excellent work has been done in the last decade to improve patient and worker safety, it also recognizes that much work still needs to be done to link these safety issues to environmental health and sustainability.
The GHSI effort marries safety and sustainability, and puts healthcare leaders at the center of a global movement to support healthy people in healthy communities on a healthy planet. Collectively, we can make a difference.
We invite you to read more about GHSI, as well as our Founding Organizations, Supporting Organizations, and the Workgroups, whose ongoing collaborations are the bedrock of our efforts.
Please join us or request additional information at info[AT]globalhealthsafety.org or call Executive Director Bob Eisenman at 510-559-8777.
