Environmental Responsibility Leader Profiles
Nancy Mulvihill
Vice President
Corporate Communications
Covenant
Health Systems
Tewksbury, Mass.
Education:
- Master of arts, English
literature and master of arts, counseling psychology
How do you define environmental responsibility at your organization?
I
think the Covenant Health Systems mission statement says it best.
"As a Catholic health care system we practice responsible stewardship of the
resources entrusted to us, and create healthy environments for our employees
and the people we serve. In recognition of the critical linkages between
environmental health and public health, Covenant aspires to provide health care
services in a manner that protects and enhances the environment and the health
of communities now and for future generations."
What excites you and motivates you for the work you do?
As
always, it is so rewarding to do something that makes a difference to this
world. And it is exciting to see the "power" of coming together to
sponsor earth day programs, energy savings initiatives, buying local
foods, etc., and to offer an overall healthy climate for our staff,
residents and patients.
What issue is keeping you awake at night?
There
is so much education that needs to be done on how each of us can reduce
our carbon footprint.
What gives you hope about the Catholic health care ministry?
The
Catholic ministry, led by the Catholic Health Association, is making a
tremendous effort to help educate its members. They have brought so many
of us forward with our initiatives through sharing calls, webinars booklets and promoting attendance at conferences such as Clean Med or Food Med.
Those
in the Catholic healing ministry do see environmental stewardship as one of
their moral obligations as good stewards of the earth. We have also had
the benefit of our leadership, including the Popes calling for our action and
implementation.
It is
also exciting to see how we as a very large group can change the market…
For those who may be considering a career in environmental
responsibility, do you have any advice or guidance to offer them as they consider this option? What about for those who are new to the environmental
responsibility role?
I
really would say that passion for caring for the environment is the best
requirement anyone could have. We are fortunate, too, in healthcare, to
have incredibly helpful organizations such as, Practice Greenhealth and
Healthcare without Harm who guide us along our journey. I, for one, know
I couldn’t have done it without them. The conferences and webinars they
offer are continual educational experiences.