Toward a Climate-Ready Health Care System: Institutional Motivators and Workforce Engagement

Milbank Q. 2024 Jan 16. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12687. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Policy Points The US health care system faces mounting pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change; motivated institutions and an engaged health care workforce are essential to the development, implementation, and maintenance of a climate-ready US health care system. Health care workers have numerous profession-specific and role-specific opportunities to address the causes and impacts of climate change. Policies must address institutional barriers to change and create incentives aligned with climate readiness goals. Institutions and individuals can support climate readiness by integrating content on the health care implications of climate change into educational curricula.

Keywords: climate change; education; workforce.