Emplify Health by Gundersen has earned the prestigious Sustainable Healthcare Certification from the Joint Commission, making it one of only 16 hospitals in the nation to achieve this recognition. The certification honors hospitals and critical access hospitals actively expanding or continuing their decarbonization initiatives and meeting rigorous standards set and reviewed by the Joint Commission.
Emplify Health by Gundersen’s sustainability efforts are driven by its industry-leading program called Envision, which has spent years moving the health system toward its environmental and sustainability goals.
“Key parameters for this certification include a strategic plan for sustainability, carbon reduction goals and action plans, as well as carbon tracking and resource allocation to support decarbonization efforts,” Envision project manager Ariel Brophy says. “We have been meeting these standards for years, even before the certification was available.”
Since 2014, Emplify Health by Gundersen has achieved energy independence and was the only healthcare system invited to the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. Year over year, the organization has saved millions of dollars in energy costs, including $5.7 million in 2024. The savings directly support its mission to lower healthcare costs for patients and create healthier communities.
Brophy emphasizes that this certification underscores the organization's ongoing commitment to its environmental goals.
“This certification demonstrates that we remain leaders in healthcare sustainability and are dedicated to maintaining that leadership. Sustainability is integral to our mission of relentlessly caring, learning and innovating,” she says.
By 2027, Emplify Health by Gundersen aims to use only half the energy typically consumed by a health system of its size. To achieve this, the organization is implementing several initiatives:
Renewable energy and resilient campus: Transforming the Onalaska campus into one of the first renewable energy and resilient campuses in the country by partnering with Xcel Energy to build a microgrid and battery storage system
Solar panels: Continuing the use of solar panels to generate clean energy
Energy creation partnership: Maintaining an energy creation partnership with the La Crosse County landfill
Hospital farm: Developing a hospital farm on the La Crosse campus to grow food sustainably for patients and the community
Energy-efficient technologies: Investing in technologies that enhance energy efficiency at existing facilities and revolutionize energy use and creation at new facilities.
“Relentlessly caring for our community and patients means addressing their current health needs while also working to improve community health for future generations, “Brophy says.” Our sustainability efforts not only save our organization millions of dollars annually but also ensures those savings are reinvested into patient care and reducing the cost of that care.”
Click here to learn more about Emplify Health by Gundersen’s sustainability efforts.