The news is full of stories about how the health care system has been hit over the past few years. There is a labor shortage and medical workers are retiring in large numbers. Clinicians are facing record levels of burnout. Nationwide, 631 local hospitals face imminent closure. In addition, extreme weather could lead to the closure of 1 in 12 of his hospitals around the world. Of the U.S. counties, 90% have experienced a climate disaster in the past decade, and in 2021 alone, 40% of Americans live in counties that faced a climate disaster. In 2023, there will be 28 weather and climate disasters, with direct and indirect damages, compared to about 8 annual billion-dollar disasters from 1980 to 2022. It exceeded $1 billion. –This is not a distant concern, but a reality that clinicians must grapple with.
With such devastating effects cumulatively, there are bound to be legal solutions that decision makers are considering to mitigate the damage. So why don't we hear more about the Green New Deal for Health?
The legislative package from Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Basic Health Care and Retirement Security, aims to address a number of threats by improving health care. This will lay the foundation for restoring the health system from the Sustainability and patient, clinician, and community support. It will also address a health crisis that disproportionately impacts low-income people, immigrants, rural populations, and communities of color.
The U.S. healthcare sector accounts for 8.5% of our nation's greenhouse gas emissions, so it's important to urgently focus on climate action in the sector. Pollution from U.S. health care causes public health harm comparable to that caused by preventable medical errors, costing 388,000 disability-adjusted life years. This air pollution affects vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, pregnant women, (low-income people, communities of color). Experiencing an undue burden.
Efforts have certainly been made to promote climate-smart healthcare. The Joint Commission created a U.S.-centered voluntary sustainable healthcare certification and international sustainability standards. In 2022, HHS launched the Health Sector Voluntary Climate Pledge, calling on health agencies to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plan for resilience to climate change. There are countless piecemeal efforts at the state and local level. Although these efforts are critical, they are incomplete and unenforceable, and the industry would like to maintain them.
Despite the clear need to scale up efforts, the Green New Deal for Health, which would support all hospitals, has fallen by the wayside rather than making headlines. Why is this? The name may not generate bipartisan warmth, and after the first Green New Deal (introduced in 2019), there may be less appetite to launch inaccurate influence campaigns. do not have. The timing also may not be ideal, as another contentious presidential election approaches. Conservative voices that question big funding programs like the Inflation Control Act often find a home in health care administration, where big spending plans are often met with distrust.
But there may be ways to restructure the deal in a way more favorable to opponents. Let's take a look at President Obama's effective economic stimulus package in 2009. This included climate change legislation, but was promoted as an economic measure. The green bow symbolizing the economy rather than supporting nature may make the health system want to open this legislative package.
Emphasizing the economic benefits of this package is paramount, as upfront costs are an argument that many health systems have used to argue against efficiency and sustainability efforts. Future returns on investment are often substantial, given that major upgrades require capital expenditures, lower margins and higher expenses compared to pre-pandemic levels. Health systems may think twice about investing. No one doubts that hospitals are taking a huge financial hit. But that's precisely why legislation to support our health care system, build resilience and sustainability, and support our communities couldn't have come at a better time. Weatherizing hospitals and optimizing energy efficiency is not a welfare benefit.
The bill would provide critical upfront funding for cash-strapped health systems. The $100 billion earmarked would revive New Deal-era programs aimed at modernizing health care facilities, weatherizing them, and reducing their environmental footprint. This fund supports hazard pay for healthcare workers who continue to care for patients during and after a disaster. This protects public health and ensures that people are cared for during climate disasters. An additional $10 billion will support regional planning grants and research on health sustainability and resilience.
$9 billion to meet the education needs of health care workers so that we, as a community, are trained to care for patients in a changing environment. Calls for health education about climate change have come from medical students to the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association. This funding will support medicine's academic mission to meet the evolving needs of patients and trainees.
U.S. emissions fell slightly in 2023, but not enough to avoid global warming or impact pollution. We need legislation that recognizes that climate change impacts health and connects what's happening inside the four walls of our health care system with what's happening outside of it. We need federal guidance that proactively protects health to help bring resilience and sustainability to our system.
One of the reasons the original Green New Deal (which targeted broader areas than health care) stalled was a lack of support for workers. As with all climate change legislation, there has been vocal opposition from within and outside the healthcare industry. Doctors, nurses, and all health care workers need to speak out for legislation like this. Because until advocates claim it, it's just words on a page. Healthcare and hospitals dedicated to patient care are mandated to promote a healthy, sustainable and climate-resilient system. Patients will continue to need care, so we all need to make sure that the Green New Deal for Health is no longer a secret. It's just a matter of being ready.
Dr. Elizabeth Celseo is an academic hospitalist and founding member of New Jersey Climate Action Clinicians. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of her employer.
