Environmental Sustainability

Giving the best care to our patients and the Earth

Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is an integrated, nonprofit health system with more than 70,000 teammates serving patients at 40 hospitals and more than 1,400 care locations.

At Atrium Health, we believe that the link between health and the environment is unbreakable. As such, we are committed to building the next generation health system that is sustainable for generations to come. Our vision is to be the national leader in health, learning and community. This vision requires a fundamental reimagining of how we deliver care, how we manage our supply chain, how we partner across industries, and how we lead in our communities. It also requires a culture in which each of our teammates is engaged in sustainability. Our Culture Commitments are our guideposts for how we care for our patients and each other, every day, and are a vital tool in our commitment to a healthier environment.

Over the past decade, our commitment to a healthier environment has enabled us to build a path to greater sustainability. From deep energy efficiency retrofits of our acute care facilities to planting trees to significant reductions in single-use plastics, our actions are already making a difference for the planet and our patients.

• Signing the Health Care Sector Pledge at the White House on June 30, 2022, deepening our commitment to reduce carbon emissions and make health care facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change
• EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the 5th year in a row
• Six ENERGY STAR certified acute care hospitals
• A $12 million dollar investment that resulted in a 30% reduction in annual energy consumption compared to 2012 baseline
• Elimination of 98% of single-use plastic water bottles across Atrium Health in the Charlotte market
• Designation as a Tree Campus Healthcare Institution by the Arbor Day Foundation as part of the inaugural class of 16 Tree Campus healthcare facilities for 3 consecutive years

As the next step in our sustainability journey, Atrium Health has committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. Atrium Health has also signed the HHS Health Care Sector Pledge and committed to meet the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Current steps to reduce its climate impact include emissions reduction from on-site energy use, waste anesthetic gases, vehicle fleets and refrigerants; the designation of an executive-level leader to spearhead emissions reduction; conducting an inventory of its supply chain emissions impact; and developing a climate resilience plan for continuous operations that includes anticipating the needs of groups in its community that experience disproportionate risk of climate-related harm.

Atrium Health will achieve these ambitious goals using the following framework:

1. INFRASTRUCTURE: Driving down the Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions of our health care delivery through:
   
   • Expanded emphasis on improving the energy efficiency of our hospitals and office spaces, reducing the emissions associated with our fleet, and targeting for reduction carbon-intense care pathways such as anesthetic gas utilization.
   • Continued focus on accurately measuring and transparently reporting upstream and downstream emissions reduction in our value chain.
     
     
2. SUPPLY CHAIN:
• Completing a Scope 3 audit to identify hot spots for engagement with suppliers.
• Implementing a sustainable sourcing strategy that requires top suppliers to set a science-based emissions reduction target, report ESG metrics, and adhere to a sustainability code of conduct.
• Appending contract bidding and award criteria to include incentives for suppliers that align to Atrium Health’s sustainability goals.
• Improving internal supply chain operations by reducing fleet emissions, implementing systemic multi-source waste reduction strategies, and increasing recycling and reprocessing.
• Collaborating with other healthcare organizations and industry groups to establish industry best-practices for sustainable sourcing and supplier education.
  
  
3. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION:
• Integrating climate and health curriculum into medical school and GME curriculum.
• Building new executive training programs within our organizational leadership offerings.
• Evolving patient education materials to reduce waste and integrate sustainability and environmental health messaging.
• Expanding Atrium Health's Environmental Sustainability office work that offers strategies, resources and education for teammates to engage in sustainability through professional and personal action.

Over the past decade, our commitment to a healthier environment has enabled us to build a path to greater sustainability. From energy efficiency retrofits of our acute care facilities to planting trees to reductions in single-use plastics, our actions are making a difference for the planet and our patients. Specific accomplishments include:

• Signing the Health Care Sector Pledge at the White House on June 30, 2022, deepening our commitment to reduce carbon emissions and make health care facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change
• EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the 5th year in a row
• Six ENERGY STAR certified acute care hospitals
• A $12 million dollar investment that resulted in a 30% reduction in annual energy consumption compared to 2012 baseline
• Elimination of 98% of single-use plastic water bottles across Atrium Health in the Charlotte market
• Designation as a Tree Campus Healthcare Institution by the Arbor Day Foundation as part of the inaugural class of 16 Tree Campus healthcare facilities for 3 consecutive years