HCA Healthcare – Benjamin March – 2015

Goals

Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), a for-profit operator of health care facilities with approximately 165 hospitals and 115 surgery centers throughout 20 states and England, hosted Ben March as an EDF Climate Corps fellow to investigate and analyze strategies to tackle the issue of wasted food throughout its facilities. March worked closely with HCA’s Sustainability Manager looking in depth at food waste and identifying opportunities to reduce its impact.

Solutions

After conducting initial research and analyzing data and estimates, March identified six potential projects for further exploration, including behavior change initiatives, food donation, alternative processing systems such as compost and the need for comprehensive food waste audits. March interviewed key stakeholders within HCA, gathered data from vendors and led a food waste audit at a local facility to obtain data and understand the challenges of implementing these solutions. Since the facilities within HCA’s portfolio offer a variety of challenges and unique situations, March developed a framework to help facilities decide which solutions might work best in each situation. March also outlined an employee engagement plan to educate staff about the impact of food waste and ways to get involved.

Potential Impact

March’s projects have the potential to provide HCA with annual savings of $2.5 million while reducing its annual carbon footprint by 10,500 metric tons of indirect carbon dioxide emissions. At the conclusion of the fellowship, March presented these findings along with an implementation plan with recommended locations.