Climate Action Webinar
Webinar:
HSO’s recently released Declaration on Climate Action.
Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025, from 12-1PM (ET).
Health Standards Organization (HSO) invites you to a webinar on HSO’s recently released Declaration on Climate Action. The Declaration outlines key actions HSO will take to support climate-resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable health care. Join the discussion on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, from 12-1PM (ET).
As part of HSO’s commitment to advance climate action, we have convened a 16-member Climate Action Advisory Committee to provide focused insight on HSO’s climate action journey. The committee is comprised of health care leaders, clinicians, researchers, and policymakers from across Canada dedicated to working towards climate-resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable health systems.
We are honoured to feature the following committee members to lead this important discussion:
Dr. Myles Sergeant (Co-Chair)
Dr. Myles Sergeant is a family physician who has worked with vulnerable populations, including new immigrants and refugees, people experiencing homelessness and/or addictions, and the elderly, over the past 25 years. Recognizing the intersection between environmental issues and health, he is dedicated to addressing climate change issues. In 2023, Myles became the Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care. He also serves as co- founder/co-lead of Partnerships for Environmental Action by Communities within Healthcare Systems (PEACH Health Ontario), co-founder of Trees for Hamilton, and was the Founding Medical Director for not-for-profit Shelter Health Network in 2005. Myles is also an Assistant Clinician Professor with McMaster University.
Vishal Jain (Co-Chair)
Vishal Jain is the Director, Health Equity at Health Standards Organization. His interdisciplinary academic training includes degrees in Human Rights and Public Health, with a concentration in
social inequities and health. Vishal brings leadership experience in the areas of health care strategy and administration, health standards design, implementation science, and public health planning. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Linda Varangu (Advisor)
Linda has been empowering health care to improve environmental stewardship since the 1980s. Thankfully, practices have improved since then! She has helped form and lead green health care organizations, developed projects and volunteered on initiatives to reduce waste, energy, water, and use of toxic chemicals, enhance circular economy practices, provide healthy local foods, and save money. International awards have recognized her contributions to help healthcare organizations prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Linda was founding executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, a national not-for-profit supporting healthcare organizations transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable facilities and systems, and co-founder and climate lead of PEACH Health Ontario, which is provincially focused on greening healthcare organizations. She is also on the Executive Committee and Program Advisor to the national CASCADES initiative - Creating a Sustainable Canadian Health System in a Climate Crisis, and holds a Masters in Environmental Engineering.
As well as opening remarks by HSO/AC CEO, Leslee Thompson.