IFHE NEWS
Sustainability the seventh ‘key dimension’of quality healthcare
A Special Interest Group on Sustainability (
https://tinyurl.com/37ju3wy6) was officially launched by the International Hospital Federation on 14 October, with Walt Vernon, an IFHE Executive Committee member, and the CEO of global planning, design, and engineering firm, Mazzetti, speaking in a launch podcast on the day (
https://soundcloud.com/ihf-whc/ podcast_5) entitled ‘Taking action on climate change: How we can build sustainable healthcare environments?’ Walt Vernon – who has over 30 years’ experience in the research, planning, and design of healthcare facilities – is an IHF Premier Associate Member, and also the founder of the non-profit organisation, the Sextant Foundation, which works worldwide to implement clean energy and water solutions. He has served on the board of both Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm, and was the principal author of the World Health Organization’s Health in the Green Economy, and of the American Hospital Association’s Sustainability Roadmap for Hospitals – A Guide to Achieving Your Sustainability Goals.
He said: “This Spring, the International Panel on Climate Change released its Working Group 1 portion of the Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change. The report signalled, according to the United Nations, ‘a Code Red for Humanity’, and health leaders from around the world are taking note. On 9 September, more than 200 of the
most prestigious health journals from around the world issued a joint letter to all of us calling for emergency climate action, while on
28 September, the United States National Academy of Medicine launched its Action Collaborative to decarbonise the health sector. In the design industry, we live by the mantra that ‘Form Follows Function’. As the professionals who plan,
design, construct, and operate the world’s healthcare facilities, we have a responsibility to do our work in a way that adheres as closely to this ideal as we possibly can. “Usually,” Walt Vernon
Walt Vernon.
continued, “this means a focus on the immediate act of care-giving. Indeed, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement defines healthcare quality as having six dimensions: ‘care that is safe,
effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient, and equitable’. Historically, therefore, applying the principle of form following function, we designers and operators have focused on optimising these private moments of care delivery. On the other hand, public health typically demands of us that we take private actions in ways to support the health of the entire population, and not simply for the immediate benefit of the private actors involved in the particular act.
“In many ways, looking at clinical quality flies in the face of public health demands, and the roots of engineering – whether through water safety, food production, or transportation systems – are deeply intertwined with the efforts to protect the health of populations. So, we who design and operate health facilities have been historically caught between the demands of these competing health priorities – until now. On 14 October, the International Hospital Federation launched its Special Interest Group on Sustainability, to help healthcare leaders worldwide to develop competence in taking on
this critical challenge. That day the IHF also published a podcast episode on this topic, in which I took part, and will formally convene the group at its international Congress this month in Barcelona (
https://www.ihf-fih.org/ihf-events). “In January the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering called on us all to heed the demand that ‘Healthcare facilities should be planned, designed, constructed, and maintained so as to achieve aggregate emissions 50% less than 2010 levels by 2030, and net zero by 2050’. Indeed, Dr Don Berwick, one of the authors of the report that defined the six dimensions of clinical quality, tells us that now we must add a seventh – low to zero embodied carbon.
“We no longer face a conflict between clinical care and public health; these worlds have come together. Medicine is telling us it is time to deliver buildings that deliver this new vision of clinical quality.”
Call for submissions for International Building Award significant occasion of hosting in Canada,
The Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) is pleased to invite all parties that have recently undertaken, or been involved in, a healthcare building project to enter the 2022 International IFHE Building Award Contest.
The award will be presented at the 27th International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE) Congress, which will be held at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Canada from 17-21 September 2022. This focus of the Award will be healthcare buildings that represent a contribution to the 2022 Congress framework theme, ‘Unleashing Innovation: Healthcare Engineering Excellence’. Event host, CHES, said: “On the
20 Health Estate Journal November 2021
the 2022 Congress of IFHE confirms its role and commitment to bringing together international experts in healthcare design, construction, operations, and maintenance. This International Building Award constitutes a unique occasion for design and construction managers to acquire visibility and obtain global recognition for their projects.”
The international award was established by the IFHE, and has been presented bi- annually at the IFHE Congress in The Hague in April 2016, in Brisbane in October 2018, and in Rome in 2020 (the 2020 event was held virtually).
Award submissions on both new-build
and refurbishment healthcare projects that meet the Award criteria, were completed during or after 2017, and remain operational, can be supplied. CHES added: “Healthcare facilities extend beyond hospitals, so the International Building Award recognises the contribution of facilities such as residential care homes and other supported care living environments. The award also focuses on the holistic experience of not only patients and residents, but also their families and visitors, and the medical and other care staff.”
To access the Submission Form, visit:
https://www.xcdsystem.com/ches/ abstract/
index.cfm?ID=MIHT1jB
©International Panel on Climate Change IISD/ENB/Leila Mead
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