Opportunity for Change
Healthcare contributes to 8% of all U.S. carbon emissions, making environmental stewardship inseparable from public health. To deliver on our mission of health for a better world, Providence committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030, a bold transformation requiring system-wide visibility into emissions and waste data.
Context
Until 2020, Providence tracked environmental performance through manual spreadsheets, 500+ metrics, and 40+ data vendors, creating a fragmented picture of carbon impact across 51 hospitals and 1,000+ clinics. This made it difficult to prioritize investments, pursue emissions reductions, and demonstrate measurable progress.
Pain Points:
- There was no standardized system for environmental data capture
- Multiple scorecard versions were used, causing manual reporting errors
- Limited visibility could not guide timely and relevant clinical and operational sustainability decisions
- Scaling enterprise stewardship programs became challenging
Our Approach
The WE ACT environmental stewardship scorecard
We designed and built the first-of-its-kind carbon intelligence and sustainability scorecard that enables data-driven decision-making across five major emission categories: waste, energy and water, food systems, chemicals, and transportation.
Key Capabilities:
- The scorecard’s monthly data capture aligns to Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the WE ACT framework
- It presents a unified database of 1000+ metrics, integrating 30+ data sources and 300+ KPIs with normalized benchmarking across sites of different sizes, aiding in rapid decision making
- The scorecard presents actionable insights for carbon reduction, resource optimization, and cost savings
- It supports operators, executives, and sustainability teams with a streamlined next version user interface for 1,000+ users
Transformative Outcomes
| Measurable Impact | Outcome |
| Carbon Emissions Reduction | 27% reduction in carbon emissions compared to 2019 baseline, advancing Providence’s goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030. |
| Waste Optimization | Several hospitals reduced waste by 50%; with continued enterprise-wide waste diversion efforts |
| Renewable Energy Transition | 89 facilities operating on 100% renewable electricity, reducing operational emissions and energy-related environmental impact |
| Food System Emissions | 30 hospitals participate in the Cool Food Pledge, working to reduce the carbon intensity of meals served and lower food-related emissions |
| Anesthesia Emissions | 90% of hospitals have deactivated central nitrous oxide delivery systems, contributing to major reductions in anesthesia-related greenhouse gas emissions. |
| Travel Emissions | 69% reduction in business travel compared to 2019, significantly lowering transportation-related emissions |
| Financial Impact | $40M annual savings, with a path toward $100M annually by 2030. |
| Industry Recognition | 57 sites completed LED retrofit projects, reducing energy consumption, costs, and associated carbon emissions. |
Impact in practice
Healing the planet is an extension of healing patients.
By scaling the WE ACT Scorecard across the enterprise, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs, while protecting the health of the communities we serve by ensuring cleaner air, safer materials, responsible food systems, and a resilient future for care delivery.
This is how a health system lives its mission. We reduce our carbon footprint so every patient, caregiver, and community can thrive on a healthier planet.
