Sustain Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai has been a world leader in environmental medicine for more than 50 years. Acknowledging that human health is inextricably linked to the environment, Mount Sinai is committed to continuing to lead in the protection of our patients, employees, and communities through sustainable practices.
Hospitals operate all day, every day, and need sophisticated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to maintain operating rooms, laboratories, computers, medical equipment, as well as food and housekeeping services. It’s not a surprise then that hospitals have a significant environmental impact. At Mount Sinai we have a unique opportunity to improve the health and well-being of our patients, employees, visitors and community members through the efficient use of energy and natural resources and by reducing as much waste and pollution as possible.
About Us
Mount Sinai Health System is the largest non-governmental employer in New York State and one of the largest not-for-profits in the United States. A system this large uses many resources in day-to-day operations and provides many opportunities to implement sustainable practices that can help people in and out of our facilities. By instilling sustainability as an institutional value, incorporating it into operational decision-making, and benchmarking our progress, Sustain Mount Sinai is moving sustainability from an ad-hoc effort to a core requirement with the goal of making best practices “business as usual.”
Health Benefits of Sustainable Health Care Practices
There are a number of health benefits of sustainable health care practices, including the following.
- Reducing potential exposure to toxic chemicals within our walls creates a safer environment for our patients, visitors and employees.
- Reducing our waste and energy use reduces pollution in the communities where we reside improving the health of the community.
- Reducing the use of scarce resources and preventing environmental degradation preserves biodiversity and human health and supports the delicate ecosystem that supports life on Earth.
Mission & Values of Sustain Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai Researchers Have:
- Led the effort to remove lead from gasoliine in the U.S. and around the world
- Documented the effects of pesticides, phthalates, and other synthetis chemicals on chldren's health
- Led the way in creating evidence-based programs for the preventation of exposures to toxic chemicals
- Revealing how climate change affects human health and modeling how best to protect the health of future generations
Sustain Mount Sinai recognizes the inextricable link between environment and health. By adhering to the following core values we commit to achieving the institutional mission through sustainable practices at every level.
Primum non nocere— Harm that comes as a consequence of the routine functioning of the enterprise must be limited to help fulfill the mission of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients.
Respect— Resources are not infinite and we embrace the need to respect and conserve environmental and human resources institutionally, locally, nationally and globally.
Protect— We must continually innovate to operate in ways that benefit and protect our patients, students, employees, and the global community in every sphere that can impact health and wellbeing.
Responsibility— We are responsible for providing the highest possible care to our patients while striving to improve our social and environmental impact at every level within the environment of care, within our local and global communities.
Sustain Mount Sinai Executive Committee
It is with the understanding that individual and community health are inextricably linked that the Greening Mount Sinai Executive Committee was first launched in 2010 and brought together students, faculty, and staff with the goal of implementing sustainability projects and programs on the Mount Sinai Campus to better health for all. The original Committee accomplished the important task of making sustainability an issue on campus.
The Sustain Mount Sinai Executive Committee, working to incorporate sustainable practices throughout the health system, has the support of senior health system leadership and a formal role in operations. Committee members have Health System-wide responsibilities for the operation of all system facilities.