Providence releases 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance report

[4 MIN READ]

In this article:

• Providence released our second-annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report this week, highlighting our 2023 accomplishments in environmental, social and governance efforts. 

• The report highlights achievements while also looking ahead for opportunities to advance commitments in environmental stewardship, climate resilience, health equity and caregiver support in 2024 and beyond.

• Learn more about the ESG report and the work Providence is doing to empower our caregivers and the communities we serve.  

This week, Providence released its 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report which highlights the work Providence has done to invest in our caregivers and in the communities we serve.

Headlining this year’s report is the result of Providence’s carbon mitigation efforts which saw a 12.5% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the organization’s 2019 baseline. The report also highlights the addition of two new frameworks – We REACH (Resilience, Equity, Adaptation, Climate, Health) and We SHARE (Service, Health, Advocacy, Relationships, Education) – which focus on resilience and advocacy work, respectively.

“We made commitments to our caregivers and the communities we serve,” says Cassie Tinari, executive director, social responsibility for Providence. “It’s important to us to transparently share our progress to exemplify our core value of excellence. We have a lot more work to do but sharing our progress builds excitement and momentum for the goals we want to achieve. 

Moving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) forward at Providence

Providence’s environmental stewardship work is anchored in three frameworks that help to define key initiatives and track progress:

• WE ACT (climate mitigation) focuses on reducing carbon emissions from waste, energy and water, agriculture and food, chemicals, and transportation.
• We REACH (building climate resilience) focuses on health equity, resilience, adaptation and climate.
• We SHARE (leadership and education) anchors on advocacy and leadership in environmental stewardship. This framework emphasizes service, health, advocacy, relationships and education. 

In many ways, climate mitigation, resilience and advocacy blend together. For example, building resilient infrastructure means Providence’s ministries can remain open and safe during climate shocks and chronic climate stressors. Similarly, advocacy work means those we serve can recover more quickly from climate events with our support and community resources.

“Advocacy and resiliency are connected because we recognize that we can’t solve this problem alone,” says Tinari. “We are working with elected officials, other health care organizations and the communities we serve to find solutions that work. Advocacy is so important because we have to find like-minded partners who can go on this journey with us.” 

Now in its fourth year, the WE ACT framework, which helped to kick off Providence’s environmental stewardship efforts, continues to grow and build momentum across the organization. 

“We continue to have a steady drumbeat of mitigation work across the enterprise through our WE ACT framework and are excited about our progress to date,” says Tinari. “We are able to maintain momentum because so many of our caregivers are aware of the commitment and want to contribute, paired with strong support from leadership, who know this work is Mission critical.”

The report highlights some of the local efforts that have led to such a massive reduction in emissions across the system, including a repurposing event in Alaska and creative food waste-reduction ideas in Texas. 

“Our green teams are our secret sauce when it comes to our mitigation work,” says Tinari. “We have hundreds of caregivers who participate on these teams and are a force for change. They see problems and can implement and advocate for solutions because they have passion for the cause.” 

Going beyond environmental stewardship

While Providence has been a leader in environmental stewardship among health systems nationally, the system has also made great strides in health equity as we work to reduce health disparities in the communities our ministries serve. In addition, the system is growing the Providence Well Being Trust, which is working to advance mental, social and spiritual health for all.

This work not only benefits the communities Providence operates in but also the caregivers who work in our ministries. To support health equity in communities while engaging caregivers, Providence launched the Health Equity Fellowship program in 2023 with 20 fellows across our ministries. The goal of this program is to build caregivers’ capacity and expertise through classroom learning and the real-time application of health equity principles.

“The Health Equity Fellowship gives caregivers a chance to identify and solve health equity issues they are seeing within their communities and ministries,” says Tinari. “Our caregivers are deeply passionate and energetic about these issues, and we aim to ensure they feel engaged and empowered to make a difference.”

Continuing upward momentum in 2024 – and beyond

2024 has already proven a banner year for ESG efforts at Providence. On the environmental stewardship front, Providence is undergoing our first greenhouse verification process based on its 2023 data. The team also participated in the Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle in July, which brought together climate leaders from industry, government and other sectors from around the world to work toward climate solutions. Finally, Providence achieved the Sustainable Healthcare Certification offered by The Joint Commission for all of our hospitals.

“Looking ahead, we really want to lean into education for our caregivers and communities as it relates to our greenhouse gas mitigation,” says Tinari. “Additionally, we aim to expand our focus into resilience and adaptation initiatives, where we see numerous opportunities—from aligning with health equity efforts to partnering with the Providence Well Being Trust. We remain fully committed, not easing up on any of these fronts. We look forward to describing our ongoing achievement in next year's ESG report.” 

Contributing caregiver

Cassie Tinari is the executive director, social responsibility for Providence

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Related resources

Climate justice is a health issue

Curbing the impacts of climate on health

Caring for our common home: Environmental stewardship at Providence

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