Office of Sustainability

Houston Methodist has long been a leader in health care, providing world-class medical care to our patients while also striving to be a responsible corporate citizen. As part of this commitment, Houston Methodist has established an Office of Sustainability to drive our efforts toward a more environmentally conscious future.

With a focus on green initiatives, the Office of Sustainability is leading the charge in reducing the organization's carbon footprint and promoting sustainable practices throughout the organization. By prioritizing sustainability, we are not only making a positive impact on the environment, but also setting an example for other organizations to follow.

What Is Sustainability?

Sustainability at Houston Methodist is the responsible use of resources to conserve the environment and protect health and well-being. Our goal is to support sustainability efforts that balance economic viability, social equity and environmental protection. We seek to lead these sustainability efforts through organizational collaboration, organic entity initiatives and strategic partnerships throughout our hospital system.

Our Mission

Our mission is to ensure the responsible use of resources to conserve the environment in support of protecting the health and well-being of our employees, patients, families and communities. By focusing on environment-, emissions-, waste- and water-based projects, we will drive results through employee and community engagement; introspective analysis; actionable roadmaps; and strategic, non-profit, industry and governmental partnerships.

Our Objectives

• Lead system organizational collaboration to educate, strategize and implement long-term sustainability projects that foster innovation and financial stewardship.

• Engage employees and entity sustainability teams to conceive and lead organic, grassroots sustainability projects that align with our I CARE values and showcase how we lead medicine.

• Grow strong community and industry partnerships that support efforts to realize a local economy that conserves the environment and protects health and well-being. 

• Research objective connections among our health, our environment and our well-being in partnership with the Center for Health and Nature, while measuring and reporting the environmental impact of our operations and the progress made to reduce that impact.

Our Structure

The Office of Sustainability is led by Jason Fischer, system director of sustainability; sponsored by Ed Jones, CEO of Houston Methodist Research Institute; and guided by a Steering Committee that includes Houston Methodist senior vice president leadership. The Office of Sustainability is served by working groups made up of system leaders that include Analytics, Communications, Employee Engagement, Energy/Facilities, Transportation, and Supply Chain.

Current Initiatives at the Office of Sustainability

Workgroup Initiative

Solar panel installation projects for Josie Roberts Administration Building parking garages are currently spearheaded by Bruce Flaniken, energy engineer, and the Energy/Facilities Workgroup. Funding for this first-of-its-kind project has been approved and plans are currently in development. The project is slated to begin this year (2023) and will help bring sustainable, clean energy to Houston Methodist as we grow with our communities.

Entity Initiative

Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital successfully launched food waste composting in August 2022. Led by Paul Stege, director of Houston Methodist Environmental Services, the partnership with Aramark’s Food & Nutrition team, Stericycle and Moonshot Composting has been extremely effective in removing food waste from the landfill, resulting in carbon emissions reductions.

Currently, the Houston Methodist Environmental Services Council is working to bring food waste composting to all our hospital entities. Click here to see the live food waste diversion dashboard for Houston Methodist The Woodlands.

Partnership Initiative

The construction of Houston Methodist’s new Centennial Tower will include a rooftop garden on the 14th floor for visitors, staff and patients to enjoy the healing power of nature. This initiative was championed by Rebecca Hall, vice president academic affairs and strategy at Houston Methodist Academic Institute, in partnership with the Center for Health & Nature (CHN). Student designs submitted by the Texas A&M Landscape Department were used in the garden's development and will be incorporated into the final garden construction. CHN is a partnership between Houston Methodist, Texan by Nature and Texas A&M University supporting research at the intersection of conservation, health outcomes and community development.