Reduce Waste, Reduce Harms: How Clinicians Can Protect Patients and Planet

From single-use plastics to anesthetic gases to the dirty energy used to light and heat facilities, waste from health care systems has a major impact on the climate. Pediatric emergency physician Hilary Ong, MD, FAAP, explains what medical professionals should understand about the crisis, which communities are most affected, and how every physician can step into the role of environmental steward and have an impact. Despite delivering some hard truths, her talk includes a roadmap to health care decarbonization that offers hope for a better future.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe healthcare's contributions to climate change
• Describe the health impacts from healthcare pollution on patients and communities
• Explain how clinicians can engage in and lead Agree environmental stewardship at the bedside