Tell HHS: Make America's Hospitals Climate-Ready Now

When a hurricane, wildfire, flood, or deadly heat wave hits, we count on hospitals to be there — with the lights on, the equipment working, and doctors and nurses ready to care for people in crisis.

But climate-fueled disasters don't stop at the hospital doors.

Extreme weather can knock out power, disrupt supply chains, overwhelm emergency rooms, and put critical medical systems at risk just when we need them most. During a prolonged outage, hospitals can lose access to air conditioning, medication refrigeration, electronic health records, lifesaving equipment, and other crucial services.

For patients, the consequences can be life-threatening.

Hospitals already prepare for emergencies, but yesterday's disaster plans aren't enough for the climate threats communities increasingly face. Hospitals and other health care facilities need to be prepared for prolonged power outages and increasingly severe heat waves, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other climate-fueled disasters.

And there's a solution.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can strengthen health care emergency preparedness and help facilities invest in resilient energy systems that keep lifesaving services running when the electrical grid fails. Renewable energy, battery storage, and microgrids can help hospitals become more resilient while reducing the pollution fueling the climate crisis.

When disaster strikes, doctors and nurses should be focused on saving lives — not worrying about whether the power will stay on.

No one evacuating a wildfire or suffering through a deadly heat wave should have to wonder whether their local hospital will be able to care for them.

Please sign the petition to  tell HHS to help make America's hospitals climate-ready before the next disaster strikes.

The petition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  reads: Strengthen federal emergency preparedness standards for hospitals and other health care facilities as climate change makes disasters more frequent and severe. Require health systems to plan for extreme heat, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and prolonged power outages. Help hospitals invest in clean, resilient backup power, including renewable energy, battery storage, and microgrids. Patients should be able to receive lifesaving care even when climate-fueled disasters strike.