April 2026 Green Practice News

• Congratulations to Weill Cornell in New York City
• Earth Day: A Call to Lead in Your Healthcare Practice
• Five Shifts for Spring to Benefit Your Clinic
• Join the Growing Number of Practices Being Coached by My Green Doctor

Green Practice News applauds Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Associates at Payson House on earning the My Green Doctor Green Practice Recognition Certificate, Stage 1: Culture of Sustainability.

This recognition reflects a meaningful commitment to integrating environmental action into everyday operations—demonstrating that high-quality patient care and sustainability leadership go hand in hand.

The Payson House practice has shown that culture change begins with people. Under the leadership of Practice Supervisor Ashley Lewis and Medical Assistant Shafon Cox, the team has prioritized energy saving, education, and practical action. Since Fall 2025, the practice has included environmental sustainability in six of its staff meetings, an essential foundation for long-term success.

Education has been central to their approach. Staff have participated in learning sessions on environmental sustainability, energy use, solid waste recycling, and battery recycling. Patients are engaged as well, with My Green Doctor educational brochures placed in the waiting room covering four key topics. This teaching extends the practice’s impact beyond clinic walls and into the community.

Equally important are the tangible, everyday actions the team has implemented. The practice now powers down printers and turns off lights at night, reinforcing energy-smart habits. Recycling bins are accessible in the waiting room and throughout the office, supported by a formal battery recycling program. These steps may seem simple, but together they represent the kind of consistent, systems-based thinking that drives real progress in healthcare settings.

The financial benefits are real. The practice reports to us that they’ve received already a $2000 credit from their utility company, an annual Return on Investment of at least 600% for their investment in My Green Doctor! This parallels the experiences of other practices we have helped.

We congratulate the entire Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Associates at Payson House team for their leadership, teamwork, and commitment to prevention. We can’t wait to hear what they achieve in the year ahead!

Each year, Earth Day serves as a powerful reminder that the health of our planet and the health of our communities are deeply connected. What began as a grassroots environmental movement has evolved into a global call to action—one that invites individuals, organizations, and industries to take meaningful steps toward a more sustainable and regenerative future.

Today, Earth Day is not just about awareness—it is about action. Across the world, people are rethinking how they live, work, and care for one another. From reducing waste to conserving energy and choosing more responsible products, small, consistent changes are adding up to create measurable impact. But lasting progress depends on something more: unity.

When we act together, we amplify our impact. Earth Day reminds us that collective effort—across communities, professions, and sectors—is essential to driving real change. Every action matters, but shared commitment is what transforms momentum into movement.

This is especially true in healthcare.

Healthcare professionals, practice managers, and clinic administrators are uniquely positioned to lead. They are trusted voices in their communities and stewards of both human health and environmental responsibility. By integrating sustainable practices into clinical operations—reducing waste, improving energy efficiency, and engaging patients—healthcare leaders can demonstrate that high-quality care and environmental stewardship go hand in hand.

Leadership in healthcare today means more than delivering excellent clinical outcomes. It means recognizing the broader factors that influence health, including environmental conditions, and taking proactive steps to address them. It means guiding teams, inspiring patients, and setting a standard for what responsible, forward-thinking care looks like.
Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect—but more importantly, to recommit.
Together, we can build a future where sustainable practices are embedded in everyday care, where healthcare systems lead by example, and where the well-being of people and the planet are advanced side by side.

Because leading healthcare means leading on climate, too.

As the days grow longer and the light changes, spring offers something powerful: momentum.

Spring is a natural time to refresh routines, reset priorities, and introduce healthier, greener habits — both at work and at home.

Healthcare is built on prevention. Here are five practical seasonal shifts your clinic can start now:

1️⃣ Refresh Workplace Energy Habits
Encourage staff to power down unused equipment, adjust thermostats thoughtfully, and revisit HVAC efficiency. Even small adjustments reduce operating costs and pollution.

2️⃣ Rethink Commuting
Invite your team to walk, bike, carpool, or use telehealth when appropriate. The cleanest mile driven is the one that never happens.

3️⃣ Launch a “Green Spring Challenge”
Friendly competitions — reducing single-use plastics, cutting phantom energy loads, or conserving water — build team engagement and job satisfaction.

4️⃣ Model Healthier Lifestyle Choices for Patients
Talk about plant-forward eating, time outdoors, and active transportation. Patients trust what they see in their healthcare settings.

5️⃣ Create a 90-Day Sustainability Sprint
Spring is the perfect time to set measurable goals — reduce energy use by 10%, cut waste in one department, or transition one system to greener purchasing. Focused, time-bound initiatives create visible wins and long-term culture change.

Each of these will count towards your Green Practice Recognition Certificate from My Green Doctor.  This is where we come in. My Green Doctor’s sustainability coaches support practice managers, administrators, and clinicians to accelerate implementation. Our structured practice management coaching and proven tools help your team move from ideas to measurable progress — without overwhelming your staff or disrupting patient care.

Spring is a season. Momentum doesn’t have to be. If you’re ready to turn small seasonal changes into lasting operational improvements, let’s talk.

Through its coaching and consulting services, My Green Doctor guides practice managers, and administrators, and clinician leaders to integrate climate-smart and resource-efficient practices into everyday clinical workflows. We recommend only one or two small changes each month, but these gradually add up to real improvement. This approach helps reduce environmental impact and strengthening operational efficiency without being disruptive of the routines in an already busy practice.

“Healthcare professionals want to take action, but they need solutions that work in real-world clinical settings,” said Todd Sack, Executive Director of My Green Doctor. “Our coaching and consulting model meets practices where they are—offering clear guidance, practical tools, and ongoing support that translate good intentions into meaningful, achievable results for healthcare teams and the patients they care for.”

Each newly onboarded practice will receive customized coaching aligned with its specialty, size, and patient population. Program focus areas include energy and resource use, waste reduction, responsible purchasing, food choices, chemical, transportation, and patient engagement. We identify the high-impact actions that fit within existing workflows.

We welcome the most recent practice to join the My Green Doctor family: The People’s Health Clinic in Park City, Utah, partnering with MGD to implement practical, measurable actions tailored to their clinical operations, and help them save money.

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