Though hospitals have been making efforts to change up their sustainability strategies, acute care isn’t the only space in healthcare interested in maintaining a green footprint.

Pharma has also been deeply involved in the sustainability game, and Eli Lilly’s VP of Sustainability Jim Greffet shared with Healthcare Brew a bit about what the pharmaceutical giant has been doing recently.

“Oftentimes I think there’s this view that sustainability is at odds with good business…That’s not the case,” he said. For example, he said focusing on both yield and scale to “get the most output for the least input—that is both a good sustainable practice and it’s also good for business.”

And experts say change is needed, as research compiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency shows pharmaceuticals have a negative impact on the environment and various ecosystems, and may even be harming human health. Overall, the pharmaceutical industry produces 20%–25% of healthcare’s global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2024 University of Toronto study.

Of course, healthcare executives seeing the benefits of implementing sustainable practices—including long-term and short-term financial benefits—isn’t exactly new. And despite the Trump administration questioning whether climate change is real, Lilly and other healthcare companies appear to be staying the course on previously established plans and goals.

Here’s a closer look at what Eli Lilly’s been doing.—NO

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This week’s Making Rounds spotlights Angie Karim Nasr, co-founder and chief nursing officer at health tech platform Medely, founded in 2015 to help curb the nursing labor shortage. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects that by 2037, the US will be short roughly 207,980 registered nurses working full time.

Nasr talked with Healthcare Brew about how Medely differs from a traditional healthcare staffing firm, how the company uses technology to increase flexibility in staffing, and the importance of mentorship in nursing.

See the full conversation here.—MA

Having a baby in the US is significantly riskier than in other comparable countries. As of 2022 the US had a higher maternal death rate than any other high-income country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at 22 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

In recent years midwifery care has emerged as one potential way to address this crisis. Gaps in education and access, however, prevent many patients from working with midwives. A new report from Morgan Health, a business arm of JPMorgan Chase focused on healthcare benefits, sheds light on how these trends play out in populations with employer-sponsored insurance.

Barriers to access. Just 1 in 5 patients on employer-sponsored insurance had a midwife as part of their care team during their last pregnancy, according to the survey held in March. A higher share of respondents (66%), though, said they would be interested in midwifery care for a future pregnancy.

“Lack of knowledge” and “insurance coverage” were cited as the main barriers to midwifery care among those who were interested in it, but didn’t use it.

Keep reading on HR Brew.—CV