HOSPITAL
IT ’ S NOTHING WE haven ’ t heard before — global climate change is a major and unprecedented public health threat , and it ’ s only getting worse .
Unlike infectious pandemics , such as the recent Ebola outbreak , there is no vaccine for a deteriorating planet ’ s effects on a population . But it does mean one thing : a sicker public means more strain on hospitals and healthcare services .
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , climate change affects air quality ( increasing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases ), leads to food- and waterborne diseases and causes an uptick in extreme weather events , which injure and kill people in large numbers .
On the other end , climate change also affects a hospital ’ s functionality
How are future extreme weather events likely to affect health care delivery and a staff ’ s ability to deliver health care . So , in response , hospitals are turning to technology and big data to prepare for bigger problems that could arise in the future .
The Department of Health and Human Services recently published a report to identify best practices and provide guidance on affordable measures to ensure that the medical system is resilient to climate impacts .
According to the report , health care organizations previously only reacted to climate events as they occurred . Hospitals need to realize that environmental preparedness goes hand-in-hand with geographic resilience , which leads to datadriven climate forecasts dictating infrastructure technologies .
Climate challenges by region Northeast : Winters result in record-breaking cold temperatures , snow fall and rain Midwest : Excessive heat waves and flooding West Coast : Increasing temperatures and droughts
How some hospitals have adapted to change