By Healthcare Facilities Today

Throughout the past few years, many studies and analyses have concluded that healthcare sustainability investments are not only good for a hospital or health system's mission — they are also good for the bottom line, according to a blog on the Becker's Hospital Review website.

"A study from architecture firm Perkins+Will showed hospitals that pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification don't add much to the total capital construction costs, but they benefit from the energy savings associated with LEED designs. Researchers analyzed 15 LEED-certified hospitals completed between 2010 and 2012, finding LEED-certified hospitals with less than 100,000 square feet added only 1.24 percent to their capital costs on average. For LEED-certified hospitals larger than 100,000 square feet, the average capital cost premium was 0.67 percent," wrote Bob Herman.

For Cadence Health in Winfield, Ill., sustainability has been part of the long-term strategic planning as well as promoting a healing environment. 

Increasingly, executives are factoring in sustainability because those strategies can improve their communities but also offset growing financial pressures, Cadence CFO John Orsini said in the article.

"In terms of sustainability, I try to look at the total cost," Orsini said. "It's easy to just say whether we're going to build something or buy something. You also have to think about what are the maintenance costs, what's the energy usage and — when you get into medical devices and patient care — what are the costs of disposing things?"

Hospitals can find easy "win-win" situations without much capital investment, according to the blog.  

For example, medical device reprocessing — in which an outside vendor disassembles, cleans, remanufactures, tests and sterilizes single-use devices like ultrasonic scalpels, and hospitals buy back the reprocessed device at a cheaper rate. 

This reduces landfill waste and the costs associated with red bag waste, Orsini said in the article.

Read the blog.