Health Care Facilities (HCFs) & Climate Change

This fact sheet from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment outlines how climate-related events impact health care facilities (HCFs) in Canada and provides strategies for improving sustainability and resiliency. It details the health sector's contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, highlighting energy use, anesthetic gases, and supply chain impacts, while suggesting tools for vulnerability assessment and specific reduction measures across various operational areas.

• Climate-related events disrupt health care delivery by damaging physical infrastructure, reducing access to critical support services like power and water, and limiting the availability of medical and non-medical supplies. These events also increase emergency room visits and hospital admissions for conditions such as heat stress, respiratory distress, and physical trauma.
• The Canadian health sector's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represented approximately 4.6% of the national total in 2015. Between 2009 and 2015, these emissions grew at 10%, which is double the national average growth rate of 5%.
• Health care facilities in Canada have the highest energy use intensity of all institutional and commercial buildings at 2.45 Gigajoules/m2. Although hospitals make up only 0.2% of such buildings, they are responsible for 4.1% of the total energy used by the building sector.
• The vast majority of GHGs in the Canadian health sector (90%) originate upstream in the supply chain rather than at the facilities themselves. Consequently, waste reduction and sustainable procurement are prioritized over waste recycling to reduce the carbon footprint.
• Specific operational areas identified for GHG reduction include the use of low-impact inhalation anesthetics (avoiding Desflurane and nitrous oxide), transitioning to plant-based diets to reduce the impact of the $4 billion annual food spend, and utilizing telemedicine to reduce travel-related emissions.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (n.d.). Health Care Facilities (HCFs) & Climate Change. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-6-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf#new_tab

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Health Care Facilities (HCFs) & Climate Change. n.d. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-6-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf#new_tab.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Health Care Facilities (HCFs) & Climate Change |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-6-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf#new_tab |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironmentndhealth, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Health Care Facilities (HCFs) \& Climate Change}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Module-6-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf#new_tab}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }