Green Health Care Spotlight
Erika Kimball RN, BSN Leads Hospital Sustainability Initiative
By Morola Adjibodou
"I have a voice and a vision and the rest is coming together steadily" offers Erika Kimball, RN, BSN, a graduate of the Leadership in Green Health Course. The course confirmed Erika's imperative to make a difference. Working as a nurse in the Transitional ICU of California Pacific Medical Center she believed in promoting practices that increase the health of patients without sacrificing the health of the environment. However, when she contacted hospital management about starting green initiatives, she received no response. Inspired by a course assignment, Erika rewrote her letter and consequently management encouraged her to lead the hospital's sustainability efforts.
Erika says, “The Leadership course gave me the right materials to make an urgent, scientific and humanitarian case for green healthcare." In her letter, she proposed quick waste reductions that had both long-term and short-term economic benefits. Today, Erika and her colleagues are building an interdepartmental green team.
While her efforts are challenging, Erika shares that, "[an] assignment for the Leadership course was to imagine forming a green team in our workplace, list who should be on the team, and write a letter inviting these prospective team members to join. I found it very valuable that these class assignments effectively walked me through the steps associated with forming a coalition." Erika continues to utilize course materials in her ongoing work at CPMC. She reflects that, "this has been challenging for me, but there are a lot of great people at my hospital who share this vision and together we will reduce our environmental impact."
The Leadership course nurtures tomorrow's environmental leaders in today's healthcare world. Erika is a living example of a leader as she continues her education by pursuing an MBA at the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco. She jokingly describes herself as, "a leader in a field that doesn't exist yet." Like Erika, everyone who participates in
Leadership in Green Health Care has a vision--Teleosis gives you the tools to implement that vision. Click here to learn more >>
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