Seattle Children's Commitment to Sustainability Strengthens with Signing of HHS Health Care Sector Pledge

Today, Seattle Children’s announced the signing of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HSS) Health Care Sector Pledge, strengthening its enduring commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship to provide better futures for children, their families and the community. The voluntary pledge asks signees to, at a minimum, commit to:

• Reducing their organization’s emissions by 50% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 and publicly reporting on their progress
• Completing an inventory of supply chain emissions
• Developing climate resilience plans for their facilities and communities

As a long-time leader and believer in healthy environments, Seattle Children’s is aware of the climate impacts of the organization’s operations, and has committed to long-standing efforts in climate, waste diversion, alternative transportation and green building with a goal of helping pave a path for others in the healthcare sector to successfully address their individual environmental impacts on emissions and climate change while strengthening sustainability and resilience.

“Climate change is a global health crisis with considerable impacts on our children and disproportionately so for communities of color,” said Dr. Jeff Sperring, CEO, Seattle Children’s. “As a result, Seattle Children’s has taken action to minimize our environmental footprint to ensure we reach our climate goal of Carbon Neutral by 2025. Signing the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Care Sector Pledge will further our mission of providing hope, care and cures so every child may live their healthiest and most fulfilling life.” 

Key leaders from the health care sector who signed their commitments to the HHS Health Care Sector Pledge, including Dr. Sperring, will join the Biden Administration at the White House this month to highlight their organization’s progress in promoting climate actions.

The Seattle Children’s hospital campus aims to be carbon neutral by 2025 with climate work across several areas including health care delivery, supply chain and infrastructure, and education. Additionally:

• The organization is a member of the Health Care Without Harm US’ Health Care Climate Council
• Seattle Children’s has removed 100% of Desflurane from our formulary
• Seattle Children’s expanded telemedicine options for patients to reduce carbon footprint of operations
• Seattle Children’s implemented an internal sustainability program that provides ongoing education to nurses, physicians, staff and leadership
• The organization’s Green Team began Project SPRUCE, reducing anesthetic gas impacts 6-fold and received a 2022 Husky Green Award
• The transportation program gained Platinum recognition from Seattle’s Department of Transportation

Seattle Children’s has been recognized by external organizations focused on measuring environmental stewardship and commitment to sustainability. This includes being awarded the Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award by Practice Greenhealth (2015-2020) and being named one of the 50 Greenest Hospitals in America by Becker Hospital Review. Additionally, Seattle Children’s was the first hospital in the U.S. to receive Salmon Safe certification for its campus in northeast Seattle in 2017.