Green Office Challenge

The Ask: Answer questions about your practice in eleven different areas of sustainability. (HINT: The scorecard is heavily guided by the Green Office Toolkit.)

Timeline: The questionnaire is now open for submissions. The deadline for all questionnaires is October 15^th, 2024. Winners will be announced in Fall/Winter 2024.

Prize:  One office will be awarded the title of Greenest Primary Care Office in Canada along with a complementary prize. We will also be awarding outstanding offices in each province and HFHT has decided to recognize one outstanding office in Hamilton, ON. In addition, every participant will receive digital materials for their website and social media to recognize their participation in the challenge.

Please share the challenge with your friends and colleagues, in your newsletters and on social media!

Find our promotion package HERE.

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First Place: Ann Rodrigues and Team at Unity Health Toronto

An inter-disciplinary team consisting of nurses, physicians, dietitians, pharmacists, and patient partners across five separate sites that serve over 50,000 patients in a downtown urban setting.

Key initiatives:

• Patient education
• Promoting plant-rich eating and Park Rx
• Deprescribing and MDI to DPI switches

“We are so grateful to be the very first to receive this national recognition. We are inspired by all the other successful projects. This award will help motivate our team to continue to improve the sustainability of our clinics and to continue making connections and sharing knowledge with others healthcare teams across the country.”

Runner Up: Dr. Cari Reed and Team at Beamsville Medical Clinic

A family medicine clinic with a "Green Team" and committee of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and office staff that meet semi-regularly to discuss in-clinic green initiatives. Together they brainstorm ideas to reduce their office's carbon footprint and bring these ideas to regular doctors' meetings.

Key initiatives:

• Procurement initiatives
• Deprescribing and Best Care program
• Patient Education by promoting Plant-rich eating

"We completed the Green Office Challenge in order to reflect on the changes that we have made at our office since forming our 'Green Team' in 2021. It highlighted the important changes we have made and hearing presentations from other participating groups helped us recognize new areas that we can look at to improve our carbon footprint!"

Runner Up: Dr. Zoë Del Bel Belluz and Team at Hamilton Family Health Team 

A community team-based primary care team with 260 inter-professional team members with 95 sites. Dr. Del Bel Belluz works at a small practice that is part of Hamilton FHT consisting of two family physicians, each with approximately 1100 patients, one part time nurse, and four medical admin/front desk staff.

Key initiatives:

• Building Supply initiative
• Patient Education by promoting Plant-rich eating and Park Rx

"Through the Green Office Challenge we learned the joy of sharing in a community of dedicated, environmentally conscious healthcare workers, working towards a shared goal of improving the health and future of our patients and our planet."

WATCH the Green Office Challenge 2024 Showcase!

On November 29, 2024 the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, PEACH Health Ontario, the Hamilton FHT Green Initiative and HP honoured the winners of the 2024 Green Office Challenge. The Green Office Challenge invited primary care clinicians to answer questions in 11 different areas of sustainability for the chance to be recognized as an outstanding leader in sustainability. This event hosted an interesting Plenary by our physician lead Dr. Myles Sergeant, shared results of the challenge, introduced the Green Health Centre of Excellence, announced the winners of the challenge and invite them to share presentations on their successes.

Watch the Green Office Challenge Showcase webinar recording