It appears the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to step up its oversight of hospitals and other health care providers. And while details of this effort remain vague – to date the EPA has begun a series of “outreach conferences” – we can only hope that the program is designed more to educate the health care community and reduce pollution, as opposed to being a vehicle to simply dole out massive fines.
If we sound skeptical, it is hard not to be when this EPA initiative seems to mirror an effort a few years back in which the federal agency aggressively pursued labs at colleges and universities, levying heavy fines in the process. Among those hit hard were Brown University and the University of Rhode Island.
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No one is arguing against the importance of cutting down on harmful pollutants. Nor is anyone arguing the fact that hospitals and other health care organizations have long since earned a dubious reputation as big-time polluters.
But the fact is hospitals have gotten better. And, ironically, an improved adherence to environmental regulations has come about in part as a result of collaboration between hospitals and the EPA established in 1998 called “Hospitals for a Healthy Environment.”
It would seem to us that expanding that kind of collaboration – perhaps to include health care organizations other than hospitals – would make more sense and would prove to be a better way to educate the health care community.
A hard line approach that threatens heavy fines could hurt health care providers – and ultimately impact patient care.
Lawyer Stephen Zubiago of the Providence office of Nixon Peabody makes a good point – and raises a particular concern that we share. What about some of the smaller hospitals and health care providers – of which there are many in Rhode Island – that may not have an adequate system in place to satisfy such an initiative by the EPA?
“Environmental compliance is generally very expensive and there are some hospitals that just don’t have the resources to devote to areas that don’t relate directly to patient care,” said Zubiago.
The EPA’s effort may in fact be well intentioned. We simply hope that it is based on education – and that it doesn’t bring further harm to an industry that employs more Rhode Islanders than any other.
