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SPECIAL FOCUS Seeing green


Executives at Greenhealth Exchange have witnessed the butter y effect the pandemic has wrought on healthcare facilities and on sustainability proects, in particular. ingering supply chain challenges remain evident, according to achel ranklin, enior irector, ontracting  upplier ela- tions, reenhealth change. he decrease in elective procedures, and subseuently revenue, has put increased pressure on upply hain to take cost out of the system, ranklin noted. s a result, upply hain staff are focused on the low- est invoice price and not necessarily with other attributes, such as those aligned to sustainability. urther, upply hain staff are over- whelmed ust trying to manage day-to-day product shortages and patient volume spikes, which cuts into the time needed for sustainability-related improvements, she acknowledged. et among those challenges, opportunities


abound, according to hresa attee, irector of ustainability, reenhealth change. ne specifi c eample is


the dependence and high- volume use of disposable products, attee indicated. oaring prices, etreme stocking challenges and dramatic increases in waste have opened the door to consider reusable products and sourcing of domestic products and services where they would never have been evaluated previously. he pandemic also provides the indus-


Thresa Pattee


try and the world with a panoramic view of a potential future that can be fied – even down to the local level, ary ohen, resident and ounder, ealth are ithout arm, states.


he I- pan-


demic is eposing all the cracks in our safety net system – all the economic, racial and social ineuities, he said. e need to build more localized systems that dont depend entirely on global supply chains. ealthcare needs to partner with other actors – like regional food systems, distributed energy systems and local social services – to build more resilient communities. ore broadly, I- gives us a glimpse into a future where society is funda- mentally threatened by ecological forces that know no borders and impact everyone in the world, ohen continued. e have arrived at this future sooner than we thought. ur presence and our responses to this pandemic will provide us with crucial lessons for how we can address the broader climate crisis that is also fast approaching. upply hain probably should consider focusing on a back-to-basics approach, urges tacey inston, ice resident, rogram an- agement, Intalere. ith the pandemic,


Gary Cohen


much of the focus has shifted to the fundamen- tal aspect of supply chain – assurance of supply, inston said. ith this, many organizations have in some cases reduced or eliminated sustainability goals in their evaluation of potential suppliers. ver the long term, however, it will be important to reinforce these standards.  sustainable supply chain is a resilient supply chain and having a dialogue with suppliers about their initiatives on sustainability indicates that the relationship has moved well beyond tradi- tional, transactional relationships.


Stacey Winston


edline Industries, meanwhile, sees the pandemic less as a roadblock to progress and more as a springboard to innovation in terms of dedication to sustainability and service to customers. ur responsibility as a healthcare company will always be ensuring the health and safety of those that we serve, said annah nderson, ustainability pecial- ist, edline Industries. art of ensuring health and safety is continu- ally addressing climate change-related issues in all that we do. hroughout the pandemic, the general atmospheric sense of urgency etends to our sustainability work. eve been doubling down on our commitments to combat climate change and zeroing in on programs and initiatives that have the largest positive effect on our planet for the greatest number of individuals. or many of us in the healthcare space, the pandemic has brought home the importance of cli- mate change action. o edline eecutives and professionals have doubled down on a new initiative. ith packaging waste and plastic use


Hannah Anderson


top of mind for many of our customers and across the industry, we set out to create a program to pave the way for large-scale change, nderson continued. his eptember, we launched our ustainable ackaging ab – a cross-functional team of edline , perations, ngineers and ustainability team members providing solutions to packaging challenges. he lab will address issues core to climate change and global warming cutting down on use of fossil fuels, virgin material use and scal- ing up sustainable material substitutions for plastic and cardboard packaging. HPN


Keeping sustainability front of mind on the front line and back offi ce internally But also acknowledging and emphasizing its importance with supplier partners externally


As the world struggles to survive and surmount a global pandemic, healthcare organization executives and professionals in the administra- tive, clinical, fi nancial, operational and supply chain realms bob and weave, pivot and pursue sustainability initiatives among competing priorities. Healthcare Purchasing News reached out to


more than a dozen experts in sustainability initia- tives, projects and strategies for tips and tech- niques to maintain and grow environmentally based efforts within their organizations as well as externally with their suppliers and third-party service companies. Here’s what they shared.


Provider-based internal focus


Thresa Pattee, Director, Sustainability, Greenhealth Exchange


“On an organization level: Sustainability Policy embeds sustainability criteria, unifi es the work and adds consistency for the organization. • Identify priority sustainability issues to focus/ educate on


• Establish goals based on above, communicate them widely and track progress


• Embed sustainability focus into job descriptions, reports, etc., to communicate the importance of this work within the organization


• Include sustainability criteria in RFP/RFI • Utilize existing tools from GPO and also inform GPO that sustainability is a priority


• When moving to more sustainable products, use the opportunity to educate on the benefi ts of the new criteria and why it is important, what it achieves towards goals, etc. “On a personnel level: Be a champion within your own organization.


• Participate in the “Green team” where they exist so that product specifi cations, etc. can be com- municated and effectively implemented


• Identify other champions (whenever possible, clini- cians) with whom to work within the organization


Page 12 hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • November 2020 11


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