Royal Philips: Pioneering hospitals take major steps towards decarbonizing healthcare with Philips

October 3, 2024

Philips helps healthcare organizations worldwide assess and mitigate their environmental impact while enabling better care and better care outcomes for more patients at lower cost

Amsterdam, the Netherlands -Royal Philips(NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction results following collaboration with customers worldwide to assess and mitigate their carbon footprints, while also enhancing patient care and customer operational efficiency. Key achievements include:

• Jackson Health System (US): A 47% projected reduction in CO₂e emissions by replacing legacy patient monitors, comprising 508-tons equipment lifecycle CO₂e reduction and 177 tonnes CO₂e reduction due to battery and paper savings.
• Champalimaud Foundation (Portugal): 24% emissions reduction per exam in its radiology and nuclear medicine department, with a goal to halve the carbon footprint of its diagnostic and interventional imaging departments by 2028.
• Rennes University Hospital (France): Opportunities identified to reduce annual emissions of the cath lab through energy savings and sustainable equipment upgrades.
• County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (UK): A sustainability blueprint (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chris-taylor-91788a16_working-together-to-green-critical-care-activity-7240342666234789888-CuIp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios) developed for the trust's ICU, focusing on waste reduction and energy efficiency.

"Good healthcare has to be environmentally sustainable, which means words and good intentions urgently need to be turned into positive actions. Philips is committed to co-creating solutions that drive measurable, impactful change. By working with like-minded action leaders around the world, sharing with them our expertise in sustainable healthcare operations, we are helping them to take critical and tangible steps toward a greener future, while at the same time enhancing patient care," said Robert Metzke, Global Head of Sustainability at Philips.

Examples of projects based on a comprehensive '360-degree' holistic life cycle assessment (LCA) of a hospital organization's sustainability, together with more detail about key results [1] include:

Jackson Health System (Miami, Florida, US)
Philips conducted a retrospective Life Cycle Assessment of patient monitoring at 3 of Jackson Health System's hospitals revealing that by switching to the Philips monitoring platform from their previous provider, over a 10-year period, they may be able to reduce carbon emission from patient monitoring by 47%. Data from the LCA assessment indicated that the Philips IntelliVue and EarlyVue monitors can help reduce the health system's patient monitoring carbon footprint by 508 tons of CO2e across all facets of the lifecycle. Battery and paper savings reduced CO2e by an additional 177.1 tons. This significant reduction also eliminates the need for an estimated 420,000 disposable AA batteries and 6.5 million sheets of paper, which can allow the health system to save $1.2 million over a 10-year device lifetime.

Champalimaud Foundation.

Rennes University Hospital.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, US)
In collaboration with leading sustainability experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Philips collaborated in a LCA project to measure and mitigate emissions associated with an entire radiology department. The results revealed that 10-year emissions from Vanderbilt's current diagnostic radiology unit amounted to 4,600 tonnes CO₂e, primarily associated with lifecycle emissions from its MR imaging suite (48%) and CT imaging suite (24%). Key mitigation recommendations for radiology departments included accelerating digitization, embracing circularity, and transitioning to renewable energy sourcing. Recommendations for health technology companies included designing for energy reduction, applying circular design principles, and developing smart image storage.

Philips is driving sustainable and equitable healthcare
Philips recognizes the link between human and environmental health, with healthcare systems responsible for over 4% of global CO2 emissions [2] and significant materials usage. As part of Philips' broader ESG commitments, Philips is driving the transition towards sustainable and equitable healthcareto deliver better care for more people. The company has been carbon neutral in its own operations since 2020. All new product introductions are designed in line with the company's EcoDesign requirements by 2025, and it aims to generate 25% of its revenue from circular products and services by 2025. Societally, it aims to improve the health and well-being of 2 billion people per year by 2025, including 300 million people in underserved communities, and 1 million workers in its supply chain.


[1] Results from case studies are not predictive of results in other cases.
- Jackson and Health System: The LCA results are obtained using Philips Environmental Profit & Loss

For further information, please contact:

Joost Maltha
Philips External Relations
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.

Attachments

• Philips Ingenia Ambition helium-free MR scanner (https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/670e570b-0e09-46ed-a922-bea4906544ed)
• Philips Azurion interventional suite (https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/f913e1f3-323b-44d3-8121-19dde4d16f27)
• Philips patient monitors (https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/9a54ce98-b420-4283-b3bf-9e3c3500172e)