CODE GREEN: Greening Hospitals and Healthcare

Description: The health care industry exists to save lives with a history of sparing no resources to achieve this goal. But with dwindling resources and global efforts for sustainability, the connection between healthcare and the environment is beginning to change. In light of ironic findings of medical waste incineration producing the largest source of dioxin, PVC equipment exposing faculty to hazardous chemicals, and $5 billion/year energy use contributing to climate change, it is clear the health care industry now needs to heal itself. As health coverage expands to 30 million more Americans under the new bill, huge expenditures on sustainable development will occur within the next several years for new health facilities, while responsible changes improve the old.

Goal: Healthcare has always been a huge consumer of resources and producer of waste; it is important for the next generation of healthcare faculty to heal responsibly. Students and faculty should join green efforts to implement changes on campuses and within their community to preserve the environment.

Panelists:

Anna Gilmore-Hall

Anna Gilmore Hall is a registered nurse. She is currently the Executive Director of Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals, healthcare systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment. She previously held the position of Co-Executive Director of Health Care Without Harm, a global coalition of more than 440 groups in 55 countries working to transform the health care industry, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to people and the environment.  Their members include hospitals and health care systems, medical and nursing professionals, community groups, labor organizations, environmental and religious organizations. Prior to joining the HCWH staff, she was the Director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the American Nurses Association. There she was responsible for developing and implementing environment policy issues for the largest nursing organization in the United States. She also was ANA’s Director of Labor Relations and Workplace Advocacy for many years. Before joining the staff of ANA, she worked with the Maine State Nurses Association as both their director of Labor Relations and later their Executive Director.

  She is a nursing luminary. She serves on several Boards and advisory committees assisting the health care sector toward sustainability. She has written many articles related to the health care’s eco-footprint and its impact on the environment. Anna received her certification in association management from the American Society of Association Executives. She has a Master’s in Organizational Management and Development from Capella University.

 Anna is married and the mother of two growing sons, ages 28 and 24. She lives in Centreville, Virginia.

Shamar Bibbins

Shamar A. Bibbins is a Political Aide for Green For All, where she helps manage the organization’s congressional relationships and steers a number of special projects.  Prior to joining the organization’s political team, Shamar was based in Los Angeles and served as project coordinator for the State and Local Initiatives team.  Prior to joining Green For All, Shamar worked in the entertainment field for several years and ran a successful business providing administrative services to non-profits and small businesses.

Ms. Bibbins attended Vassar College, where she received distinction on her senior thesis, "Race, Class and Environmental Justice." Post graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Japan where she studied social movements surrounding unprecedented mercury dumping in southern Japan. A native both of Detroit, MI, and the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area, Shamar is a strong advocate of social justice and social service. She has volunteered with numerous organizations that service and empower at-risk youth and homeless men and women.