(Photo: Kaiser Permanente Fontanta in California. Credit: Ted Eytan, Flickr Creative Commons)Two Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California achieved full conformance with the ISO 14001:2015 environmental standard. The American healthcare provider aims to have all of their hospitals meet the standard by 2025.
Kaiser Permanente Fontana and Ontario Hospitals became the first to reach conformance. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 standard specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organization can use to enhance its environmental performance, according to the official description. It also contributes to most of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“Consistent with the organization’s environmental policy, the intended outcomes of an environmental management system include enhancement of environmental performance, fulfillment of compliance obligations, and achievement of environmental objectives,” ISO says.
Kaiser Permanente described adopting a systematic approach to environmental management with objectives based on a formal review of issues relevant to the organization such as local and global environmental conditions that can affect activities and services. As of June 2018, the Oakland-based healthcare provider has 39 hospitals and serves more than 12.2 million members nationwide.
“Part of our overall standard of excellence includes operating in a way that emphasizes positive environmental impacts,” said senior vice president and area manager Greg Christian.
The ISO 14001:2015 standard was piloted at the Fontana and Ontario Hospitals to test initial implementation methods and share learnings with other hospitals, according to Kaiser Permanente. A global survey of almost 5,000 ISO 14001 participants showed that the benefits to using the standard can include a competitive advantage, financial benefits, and better employee engagement.
Earlier this fall, Kaiser Permanente signed a deal with NextEra Energy Resources to purchase 180 MW of solar and wind generation as well as battery storage capacity. “By investing in renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral, Kaiser Permanente is helping to prevent climate-related illness for people worldwide,” chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson said at the time.
