Getting The Health Care Supply Chain Sustainable — Medically Necessary

On this episode of Medically Necessary, Matt Blois welcomes Beth Schenk, executive director of environmental stewardship for the health system Providence.

Blois and Schenk talk about the carbon footprint of the health care supply chain and how health care providers, distributors and manufacturers are trying to reduce their carbon emissions.

Providence has a network of more than 50 hospitals in the western U.S. and last year announced it would go carbon-negative by 2030, meaning it wouldn't release any net carbon emissions and would actually contribute to sequestering more carbon. A huge part of that effort will be reducing carbon emissions in the health system's supply chain, which produces more greenhouse gases than any of the organization's other activities.

Providence now considers the environmental impact of the products it purchases and works with suppliers to lower emissions associated with those products. The hope is that policy will have trickle-down effects that encourage suppliers to make products that are more sustainable. 

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