Climate Change Resiliency Planning at UHN

Transcription

1 Climate Change Resiliency Planning at UHN Ed Rubinstein Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Webinar Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care March 2, 2017

2 Who Is UHN? Toronto, Ontario, Canada 3 acute care sites 4 rehab facilities 2 research towers 15,000+ staff and 1,200 beds over 6.5 million ft 2 of buildings

3 Presentation Outline 1. Prompt to Action 2. Objective and Approach 3. Process Overview 4. Process Lessens 5. Results 6. Next Steps 7. Recent Initiatives

4 1. Prompt to Action Largest Hospital Group in Canada Internal Energy and Environment department dedicated to sustainability since 1999 Availability of the checklist was incentive to convene workgroup Some senior leaders at UHN were supportive of this work

5 2. Objective and Approach Know our climate change risks, vulnerabilities and dependencies Decide how to address them Agree on: Weather parameters Time horizon Who to include in the process What final product we want

6 Start with what we know Time horizon of 5-10 years is maximum to keep administrative attention Discuss what people, programs, departments are in place already at UHN to compliment this process

7 3. Process Overview i. Recruited workgroup members from the Emergency Management Committee ii. Identified climate risks iii. Conducted checklist assessment together iv. Discussed options for what would be useful to the organization beyond our resiliency score

8 i. Workgroup Members i. Recruited workgroup members from the Emergency Management Committee Internal and external collaboration Convened workgroup with members across disciplines including external advisors from the City of Toronto and Toronto Public Health Record in Checklist: General Information

9 i. Workgroup Members Core internal team Strategic planning, Facilities, Emergency Preparedness, Emergency Department, Patient Safety and Clinical Risk, Energy and Environment Internal consultation Nutrition Services & Infection Prevention and Control, Procurement Senior Management Support

10 CHECKLIST: GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Please record your name and role at your health care facility, the others who are engaged I this initiative, and the date you completed the checklist. *Examples: emergency management, facilities management, health care services, supply chain management, food and nutritional services, waste management etc. Name Role Area of Work* Date

11 ii. Identify Climate Risks i. Identify climate risks Record in /refer to: Checklist Section 2

12 Identify Climate Risks cont. 1 City of Toronto climate model priority weather drivers: Increase in extreme weather events Extreme heat Higher ave. annual & max. temp. More intense rain events 2 Secondary weather drivers Extreme cold

13 ASSESSING CLIMATE RELATED RISKS 1. Current and future climate variability can pose a variety of risks to people and infrastructure that could affect continuity of care at your health care facility. Please indicate if your health care facility considers the following climate-related hazards when conducting risk assessments. Climate Risk Yes Somewhat No I don t know This is not a risk for my region a. Extreme heat b. Extreme cold c. Extreme rain and snowfall d. Drought e. Wildfire f. Extreme weather tornado g. Extreme weather freezing rain, ice storm, hailstorm h. Extreme weather thunderstorm, lightning i. Extreme weather hurricane and related storms j. Extreme weather avalanche, rock-, mud- and landslide, debris flow k. Poor air quality and smog l. Food-borne contamination and/or diseases m. Water-borne contamination and/or diseases n. Vector-and rodent-borne diseases 0. New and emerging infectious diseases

14 iii. Checklist Assessment i. Conduct checklist assessment together i. Total of 78 questions

15 HealthCare Facility Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit Section Subsection Question s Risk Assessment Assessing risks to inform emergency management and risk reduction strategies Assessing risks to infrastructure and systems 5 14 Risk Management Risk Management to Reduce Climate-Related Risks Procurement of Health Care Resources and Supplies Notifications, Monitoring, and Surveillance Clinical Risk Management 5 Infrastructure and Systems Risk Management 8 Energy Supply and Use 4 Building Capacity Sustainable Health Care and Climate Change Mitigation 14

16 Completing the Checklist Divided the checklist for independent research with the right people Time to coordinate the process 5-8 days Met face-to-face 4 times to complete the checklist collaboratively Time invested by workgroup members 2-3 days Answered from the perspective of the current state

17 4. Process Lessons UHN is already doing things that contribute to resiliency but not because of climate change Prompted us to think about how climate change changes our circumstances Themes emerged around Buildings, Patients, Staff and Culture

18 Already in Place Buildings Experience with 2003 blackout Code grey Annual facility condition index Patients Evacuations drills Mass Causality preparations Staff Business continuity Ebola preparations Culture Acceptance of bringing in new knowledge Green Team

19 Process Lessons cont. Not all questions are going to apply to all organizations There was an instinct to resolve the issues as they were identified. It was important to save those conversations for the next phase of planning

20 5. Results: UHN Score Section Score Assessing risks to inform emergency management and risk reduction strategies 58% Assessing risks to infrastructure and systems 59% Risk management to reduce climate related risks 91% Procurement of health care resources and supplies 68% Notifications, Monitoring and Surveillance 74% Clinical risk management 17% Infrastructure and systems risk management 92% Energy supply and use 94% Sustainable health care and climate change mitigation 83% average 71% weighted average 75%

21 Resiliency Lessons The resiliency score in each section illuminates where we need to concentrate our efforts going forward Community collaboration is critical Building organizational buy-in to address the findings from the checklist We can demonstrate what we are already doing blends with climate change planning We can raise the profile of climate change as an organizational priority

22 Sustainability & Resilience Global Climate Change Awards Healthcare Climate Challenge Climate Leadership GOLD Climate Resiliency GOLD Sustainability Awards CCHL Energy and Environment Award 2016 Green Hospital Scorecard (GHS) Greenest Hospital 2015 Award

23 Sample Green Hospital Scorecard

24 6. Next Steps i. Discussed options for what would be useful to the organization beyond our resiliency score

25 Challenges Buildings Buildings not designed to fit with a changing climate Patients Limited patient education on climate change Staff Personal preparedness and ability to cope with climate impacts Culture Generally not a year focus on planning

26 Outcomes Plan to handle information revealed during the checklist process Provide a strategic direction for master planning, capital planning and upgrades Continue with workgroup and reporting mechanism to provide recommendations to EMC Connection with the broader community Invited participation on Toronto Climate Change Action Committee

27 7. Recent Initiatives Urban Farm at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Funding for Business Plan approved Co-benefits for Climate Change Resiliency Urban green space to help reduce heat island effect Improved rain water infiltration Increased food security with locally grown food

28 Recent Initiatives cont. Exploration of Deep Water Cooling at other UHN sites If power should go out, ensures continuous cooling of building Lowers UHN s carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels

29 Questions? Ed Rubinstein Director of Environmental Compliance, Energy and Sustainability University Health Network