STAT News special report: Dr. Perlin shares thoughts on decarbonization

Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI, President and CEO of The Joint Commission, was interviewed for a special report from STAT News on pressure growing in the healthcare industry to reduce its climate pollution.

Decarbonization is one of The Joint Commission’s top priorities, having joined the Biden Administration’s Health Sector Climate Pledge to reduce the carbon contributions emanating from the healthcare sector and to help make healthcare organizations more resilient to the effects of climate change. The Joint Commission has pledged to reduce emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

In the STAT report, Dr. Perlin said climate change is “a health equity issue, because the same individuals in communities with disenfranchisement from health care are also the least able to compensate for the effects of climate change.”

Dr. Perlin also told STAT The Joint Commission is convening a technical advisory panel with nationally recognized experts to evaluate the inclusion of climate-related standards. The climate standards may be introduced in 2023, and they would be “directional rather than prescriptive,” he said in the report.

Read the special report, “‘If I were a hospital, I’d be reading the tea leaves’: Pressures grow on the health care industry to reduce its climate pollution.”