This is the third installment in a multi-part series about Providence’s climate resilience work and why it matters now more than ever. As extreme weather events become more frequent and disruptive, hospitals and health systems must be prepared to continue caring for patients and communities — no matter the circumstances. In this series, we’ll explore how Providence is strengthening its facilities, adapting processes and working with communities to build a more resilient future. Read part 1 and part 2.
Sister Sara Tarango, Providence’s environmental stewardship liaison for Southern California and a Sister of St. Joseph of Orange, was invited to visit Rome this past September to participate in events for the Season of Creation, an ecumenical celebration observed through September and early October. While there, she attended the World Day of Prayer In the Care of Creation Mass and spent time in Laudato Si' Village, learning alongside others who are advancing care for creation through faith and action.
“The trip was unforgettable,” she said. “The Laudato Si' Village (Borgo Laudato Si') is a place where the seven goals of Laudato Si' are lived daily in an intentional way: response to the cry of the poor, response to the cry of the earth, ecological economics, ecological spirituality, ecological education, adoption of sustainable lifestyles and community resilience & empowerment.”
Laudato Si’ is Pope Francis’ encyclical letter to the world, about caring for our common home. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis writes that the Earth is not simply a resource to be managed, but a shared home entrusted to our care. His message calls for a proactive commitment to environmental health, human health and social justice.
As a faith-based health care system, Providence continuously works to align with writings like Laudato Si’ in its care operations. Sister Sara is a co-author of Providence’s Laudato Si' reflection, which emphasizes the importance of protecting our planet as we care for patients. As the reflection says, “Nature doesn’t necessarily have a voice, so it’s our responsibility to speak up, to be a voice for the vulnerable.”
Building resilience is key in aligning with Laudato Si’.
“One of the Laudato Si' goals is community resilience and empowerment,” Sister Sara said. “The communities in which we serve include all of God's creation, both human and other-than-human. Caring for our common home through education, advocacy and fostering relationships among all community members helps create resilient communities.”
Justice, one of Providence’s core values, is achieved “when all of creation is allowed to flourish.” Here’s a deeper look at how that’s true, Providence’s motivation to build climate resilience and how other health systems can do the same.
Extreme weather is a public health risk
"We should, so we will”
Healthcare will always be a need, and hospitals must stay open for the benefit of patients and communities everywhere. In alignment with Providence's core value of Justice, environmental stewardship at Providence embodies Pope Francis’ message in Laudato Si’ as work of action, leadership and collaboration.
“We're obligated to address environmental concerns because we're adding to the problem through our pollution,” said Beth Schenk, PhD, chief environmental stewardship officer, Providence. “We're obligated to care for our common home and reduce our environmental impact. What we are doing today to decrease pollution will help people's health in coming decades. Just like these fires, the smoke I'm breathing is related to planetary warming from pollution decades ago..”
Environmental stewardship at Providence emphasizes the "care for our common home" Pope Francis speaks to in Laudato Si'. This means not only how we prepare for disaster, but also how we respond. Schenk and Geoff Glass[IR1] [ES2] , engineering consultant, point to temporary housing Providence provided caregivers amid fires in Los Angeles, Oregon and Spokane, as well as resources for caregivers working during such disasters and correlating evacuation orders.
“It is a lot to ask of caregivers to come to work during and after extreme events," said Schenk. "But that's the work ethic people have here. That's their professional sense of obligation and duty. We need to support and reassure their commitment, while helping keep them safe."
This climate resilience work, like much of the environmental work in healthcare, aligns with the precautionary principle of public health. When there are threats of serious damage, scientific uncertainty must sometimes be accepted in favor of prevention.
Evidence points to climate disasters being more likely in the coming months and years, but even if it didn't, the environmental stewardship team would approach this work the same way.
“Even if we don't have the precise evidence that tells us when a climate disaster will hit, if we know there's a risk that we can avoid, then we should act with that in mind,” said Schenk. “It’s work that we should do, so we will.”
How health systems can start building climate resilience
Providence's environmental stewardship team is among the most esteemed in healthcare, having earned Practice Greenhealth's inaugural Top Health System award and five of the Top 25 performing hospitals. The commitment and detail in initiatives like the Climate Related Facility Assessments (CRFAs) is just one example of how Providence leads the way in this work.
“We might be the second or third health system in the country that's done an assessment like this, and probably the largest,” said Glass.
As part of our We SHARE initiative, the environmental stewardship team has emphasized sharing their work and findings with other healthcare organizations and their environmental leaders for the betterment of patients around the country. Many of these organizations may not be where Providence is in climate resilience, but Schenk believes starting to prepare doesn't have to be complicated.
" I think really the first step is to do some research, understand your weather patterns, and then decide what you want to focus on," she said. "When we started this in 2023, we had already lived through, among other weather events, fires in Northern California and the 2021 heat dome in Seattle and Portland. This gave us a starting point that allowed us to begin asking and answering questions while also doing further assessments across our footprint.
“We knew that keeping doors open was critical. What we're doing is delivering care, but to deliver care, our people have to be ready."
Learn more about Providence’s mitigation, resilience and resource sharing work on the Providence Center for Environmental Stewardship.
