footprint that negatively impacts the health of our patients. Operating rooms contribute significantly to overall hospital waste and energy use. As surgeons, we have an opportunity to decrease the carbon footprint of our care by evaluating and making changes in our own practice, as well as advocating for changes on a hospital level.
There is a growing push to decarbonize health care. There are feasible actions and interventions that we can implement to minimize our footprint. Some of these actions include switching from disposable to reusable office and surgical supplies, removing frequently not used disposable supplies from supply packs, and other interventions. This talk will discuss these actions as well as other evidence-based practices that aim to decrease our footprint and also demonstrate to others in our departments and hospitals how to implement these important changes.
Dr. Alexandra Melnyk is a Urogynecologist on staff at the Cleveland Clinic and an Assistant Professor of OBGYN and Reproductive Biology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve. She completed both her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as her fellowship in Urogynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to that she earned her Master of Education from Arizona State University and then attended medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. Dr. Melnyk is the Co-Founder of OBGYNs For a Sustainable Future. She is also the Co-Founder of the American Urogynecologic Society Health Care Sustainability Special Interest Group. She has published commentaries and original research on health care sustainability in numerous academic journals, including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has presented on this topic at various national conferences, including the American Urogynecologic Society, American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, and CleanMed. She implemented a “Greening the Urogynecology Operating Room” initiative in fellowship and won an award in 2022 for her efforts. In addition to reducing the carbon footprint of urogynecology, she hopes to bring health care sustainability as an issue to the front and center of the greater OBGYN community.
The American Urogynecologic Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The American Urogynecologic Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.