ABSTRACT
One of the basic public health imperatives is access to clean water for drinking, bathing, food preparation and agriculture, among other daily activities; yet less than 1 percent of the Earth’s water is potable. Healthcare leaders have a role to play in ensuring that their organizations are not contributing to water contamination and are, instead, supporting efforts to protect the public’s natural health resources.
It is the healthcare leader’s professional obligation to practice sustainable water operations as a benefit to the community. Potable water is a finite resource, of which healthcare organizations are major consumers. To put it explicitly, the more water the hospital uses, the fewer resources the hospital affords the rest of the community. It is natural for healthcare leaders to be concerned about the community’s water supply when considering the 24-hours-per-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year nature of healthcare operations.
