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Climate & Health in the Commonwealth
October 9 @ 5:30 pm – October 10 @ 4:00 pm
Healthcare is both deeply affected by climate change and a significant contributor to it. As one of the largest sectors in the U.S. economy, healthcare generates significant greenhouse‑gas emissions, waste, and resource use. Yet the same systems that drive this footprint also hold enormous potential for change.
By redesigning clinical practice, food services, infrastructure, and policy engagement, health professionals can reduce emissions while improving patient care, safety, and community health.
The VCCA Climate and Health in the Commonwealth Conference brings together health professionals, students, educators, clinicians, and healthcare sustainability leaders from across the region to learn, connect, and advance climate‑ready health systems. Participants will exchange ideas, build partnerships, and identify practical opportunities to prepare a climate‑ready health workforce and create more sustainable, resilient healthcare systems across Virginia.
Featured Panels and Sessions include:
From Practice to Policy: Health Professionals as Legislative Advocates – Health professionals see the health impacts of climate change firsthand. This session explores how clinical experience can inform advocacy, legislation, and public policy.
Sustainability at the Bedside: Clinical Practice and Environmental Health – How can clinicians reduce the environmental impacts of care while maintaining quality, safety, and patient‑centered practice? Speakers share examples from critical care, the operating room, and hospital practice.
Sustainable by Design: Rethinking the Systems and Spaces of Healthcare – Healthcare sustainability extends from the buildings where care takes place to the policies and practices that shape how facilities operate. This session examines green building, energy, infrastructure, and strategic approaches to advancing environmental sustainability in health systems.
Nourishing Patients, Protecting the Planet – How dietary services and patient education can serve as pathways to a lower‑carbon healthcare system — improving patient outcomes while reducing emissions.