What is Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring?

Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring is a program offered by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care that provides tools, resources, and guidance for facilities to evaluate and increase their resiliency to climate change impacts.

Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring is currently operating the 2nd cohort. Follow this link to view the cohort interest form.

Climate Change Impacts are Here Now!

2019 shattered global heat records. Increasing atmospheric and ocean temperatures bring with them increased frequency and severity of storms, epidemics, heat waves, and other natural disasters.

Health care facilities in developed nations, like Canada, are not immune to climate change impacts. Climate change poses real risks to all Canadians and health care facilities:

  1. Infrastructure Impacts: More extreme weather events can damage infrastructure and physical plant operations, compromise access to supplies, food, and water, and endanger the safety of patients, visitors, and staff.
  2. Increase Health Risks: Increased morbidity and mortality as a result of greater frequency and severity of natural disasters, exacerbation of poor air quality, and increased transmission of vector-borne diseases.

The World Health Organization has called on the health care sector to prepare for climate change impacts through efforts to increase resiliency. The Coalition's exciting new mentoring initiative will benefit all Ontarians and communities with health care facilities and promote responsible resource stewardship within the health sector.

What are the benefits of participating in Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring?

Participation is FREE. Benefits include

  • Access to Canada’s Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit and formal, structured support.
  • Identification of facility’s current climate change risks using the Resiliency Toolkit.
  • Provision of a ‘Facilitators slide deck’ that Resiliency Champions can use in their own facility to explain the initiative to their team and bring attention to resiliency as strategic priority within organisation.
  • Support evaluating relevant facility data.
  • Peer learning group support that will lead to sharing climate change resiliency preventative actions, initiatives, best practices, and toolkit questions.
  • Assistance to reduce facility’s ecological footprint while developing in-house sustainability resiliency measures.
  • Guidance relating the Resiliency Assessment results to Environmental Sustainability.
  • Tools to benchmark progress against self and others.
  • Green leadership within your community.
  • The opportunity to contribute to the national health care climate change resiliency conversation.

Program benefits received by participating organizations are valued at approximately $15 000!

What do you commit to by participating?

  • Designation of an in-house Resiliency Champion to work with the Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring program team.
  • Participation of relevant departmental staff (Purchasing, Facilities, Nursing, Diagnostic, Redevelopment, Food Service, Housekeeping, Emergency Response) to undertake the assessment at your facility.
  • Obtaining access to relevant facility data.
  • Work with local Public Health Department and other community experts to identify potential geographic and site specific climate change impacts.

Participation is FREE to any health care organisation. We are offering two collaborative learning group sessions: The first session was just held on April 10, 2017, and the second session will take place in Fall 2017. If you are interested in being a member of the Fall cohort, please email kent@greenhealthcare.ca.

Why should your facility prepare for climate change impacts?

While facilities worldwide are recognizing the need to adapt to a changing climate and the need to become more resilient, a growing number of North American facilities have already faced adversity due to climate change-related events resulting in service delays and costly repairs. Click HERE for an interactive map of climate change impacts on Canadian Health Care facilities.

 

Resiliency and sustainability go hand in hand! The United Nations past Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has stated:

"The benefits of addressing climate change include reduced pollution, improved public health, fewer disaster, cleaner, cheaper, more efficient energy, better managed forests, more livable cities, increased food security and less poverty."

Resources

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency toolkit - Online Access

Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring participants will work with colleagues to assess health care facilities’ vulnerabilities to climate change using the Coalition’s Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit. The Toolkit was developed in partnership with Health Canada and with funding from the Nova Scotia Department Environment. Thanks to funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation we have been able to update the Checklist.

Now you can get enhanced access to the resiliency toolkit online. Find out your facility's resiliency score, get access to the Facilitators Guide, and more.

Anyone may register here or sign in with an existing account.

Ontario Climate Change Fact Sheets - downloads below! 

Get the Hamilton Health Sciences fact sheet HERE 

Get the Hotel-Dieu Grace fact sheet HERE

Get the Glengarry Memorial Hospital fact sheet HERE

Get the West Park Healthcare Center case study HERE 

Get the Markham Stouffville Hospital case study HERE

Get the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Center case study HERE 


Why your facility should use the online checklist to assess readiness for the impacts of climate change:

  1. Start to identify your facility’s current climate change related risks
  2. Understand your current state of preparedness
  3. Learn what other facilities are doing to become better prepared
  4. Help your facility to become better prepared
  5. Use the checklist to benchmark your progress against your original answers over time
  6. Use the checklist to benchmark your progress against other like facilities in the future
  7. Be a leader in your community
  8. Help start the National conversation on climate change-resiliency with hospitals across Canada

Canada Climate Change Impacts

Canadian Climate Change Documents by Province

Other Resources

Presentations

Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit: Facilitator's Presentation
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
Revised: June 18th, 2018
Download

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #7 
Final Group Meeting: Discussion
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
May 30, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #6 
Infrastructure/System Risk Management, Energy Use Building Capacity, Sustainable Health, Mitigation
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
May 9, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #5 
Infrastructure/System Risk Management, Energy Use
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
April 18, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #4 
Review Risk Management, Resources, Procurement, Notification,  Surveillance, Clinical Risk Management
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
March 14, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #3 
Review Risk Assessment Process
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
February 14, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change 
Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #2 
Assessing Climate Related Risks
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
January 17, 2018
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #2 Meeting #1 
Site Teams, Access Local Risks, Feedback & Resources
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
December 6, 2017
Download or  Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #6
Final Group Meeting and Discussions
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
September 13, 2017
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #5
Infrastructure/System Risk Management, Energy Use, Building Capacity, Sustainable Health, Mitigation
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
August 2, 2017
Download

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #4
Review Risk Management, Resources, Procurement, Notification,  Surveillance, Clinical Risk Management
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
June 28, 2017
Download or Watch it here.

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #3
Review Risk Assessment Progress, Assess Risk Management
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
June 7, 2017
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #2
Assessing Climate-Related Risks
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
May 10, 2017
Download or Watch it here

Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring: Cohort #1 Meeting #1 
Site Teams, Access Local Risks, Feedback & Resources
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
April 25, 2017
Download or Watch it here

Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring Program Introductory Webinar
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
April 10, 2017
Download

Building Climate Resilience in Canadian Health Care Systems
University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment Side Event Proposal
March 23, 2017
Download

Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency in Canada
Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care
March 2, 2017
Download or Watch it here

Climate Change is One of the Greatest Challenges of our Time
Dr. Margaret Chan
Director General, WHO
Download

Planning for a New Climate
Manitoba Planning Conference, Brandon, Manitoba
May 20, 2016
Download

Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Mentoring in Canada
Pacific Northwest Resilience Summit, Seattle, Washington
December 7, 2016
Download

Primary Protection: Improving Healthcare Resilience
December 5, 2016
Download

Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) Webinar Series
Leveraging Resources to Advance Climate-Friendly Purchasing 
November 29, 2016
Download

Taking the Lead:Climate Change Resiliency Planning in Canadian Hospitals
PAHO Health Care Climate Change Resiliency Workshop
Montreal, September 8, 2015
Download

Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Toolkit in Canada
Health Care Facility Climate Change Resiliency Workshop
McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec
September 8, 2015
Download

Cool North Shore Presentation
Extreme Heat Surveillance and response, Forest Fire Surveillance, Upgrading Water Treatment Systems
November 25, 2014
Download

Climate Change Resilient Health Care Facilities in Canada
10th Annual Canadian Risk and Hazards Network Symposium
November 6, 2013
Download

Infographics

Adapting to Our Changing Climate in Canada shows extreme weather events in Canada, their cost, and how our country is adapting.

The Lancet - Planetary Health contrasts the increasing health of the human population with the decreasing health of the planet as we exploit resources to support our growing population.

Ecohealth: What's in a Green Space that makes us feel so good? Illustrates the relationship between human and environmental health.

How Climate Change Affects Your Health by the American Public Health Association depicts how worsened air quality, changes in the spread of vector-borne diseases and extreme weather events like floods and coastal storms can cause devastation to communities.

How Does Climate Change Impact Health? by Healthcare Without Harm shows the link between climate change and health impacts, and illustrates the most carbon-intensive areas of health care.

Extreme Weather - The Fallout After the Storm by Public Health Ontario illustrates the direct and indirect effects of extreme weather events.

International Climate Change Impacts

Extreme Weather - Precipitation and Storms

When a tornado strikes a hospital: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) investigates what makes hospitals vulnerable when severe weather strikes

Retrofitting a Children's Hospital with a Hurricane-Resistant Shell: After conducting an assessment that showed their building’s vulnerability to wind damage, the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami looked for a way to improve safety for patients and staff

Proposed Floating Power Plant on Hudson River Could Save Hospitals During Outages: Submitted as a proposal for New York City’s Energy Highway call for ideas, the “portable” power plant would produce 79 megawatts of power fueled by natural gas, and would be equipped to provide immediate power to critical structures like hospitals during blackouts like the one experienced during Hurricane Sandy.

Hospital Disaster Resiliency Program Aims to Prevent Future Hurricanes From Crippling NYC Medical System: To prevent the same tragic scenario from recurring, hospitals from around New York have teamed up with global architecture firm Perkins+Will to organize an in-depth panel called the “Hospital Disaster Resiliency Program

Hurricane Matthew Emergency Power System Lessons Learned: This brief report identifies initial lessons learned in safeguarding emergency power.

International Climate Change Documents

Coalition Project Staff

Linda Varangu, Executive Director  – Project Lead
Kent Waddington, Communications Director  – Project Advisor

Partners

University Health Network 

Contact us soon to reserve your spot as space is limited! 

Contact:
Kent Waddington
kent@greenhealthcare.ca
613-720-4889

 

Funding

This project was undertaken with the financial support of:
Ce projet a été réalisé avec l'appui financier de:

otfAn agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities. Visit: www.otf.ca to learn more.