Why should doctors’ offices and hospitals install EV chargers?

Improving Public Health with EV Chargers

When people think of electric vehicles, healthcare doesn’t immediately come to mind, but maybe it should. Studies show air quality and personal health are closely tied together.

We know emissions from vehicles cause air pollution, and that air pollution is responsible for breathing issues, illnesses, and death. In fact, the World Health Organization states that 4.6 million deaths per year can be attributed to air pollution.

Poor air quality standards create illness and substantially increase medical costs. Air pollution causes asthma, cardiovascular disease, impairs lung development in children, and has been linked to leukemia, and even lung cancer. Many of these diseases can prove untreatable if not caught early. Prevention is the most effective way to defeat them. While higher air quality standards alone are not likely to prevent illnesses like heart disease and cancer, it is one step in the path to prevention, and a more valuable one than most people think.

While no vehicle is perfect, EVs have been shown to reduce participate matter in the air and increase public health by reduction of emissions.

According to The U.S. Department of Energy, a study by Rand Health, “between 2005-2007, nearly 30,000 emergency room visits and hospital admissions in California could have been avoided if federal clean-air standards had been met”. The resulting medical costs are estimated at $193 million.

Preventative healthcare has been an important part of medicine for decades. Improving air quality can help prevent disease, promote health, and support the community.

EV Charging Stations at Hospitals and Doctors’ Offices

Many health care centers have taken the initiative to install electric vehicle charging stations. One is Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center. In their article “Revving Up Car Charging Stations at Our Facilities”, Rame Hemstreet, vice president of facilities, operations, and Kaiser Permanente’s chief energy officer said, “By promoting sustainable transportation and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, Kaiser Permanente is taking concrete steps toward reducing air pollution and conditions that can harm health.”

Physician Kimberly Yang of Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, who drives a Volt, was thrilled to find charging stations in her hospital garage. She reports she’s now saving more than half of what she used to spend on fuel.

Thousands of people- medical staff, administrative staff, patients, and families- come in and out of major hospitals and medical centers every day, making them prime locations for EV charging stations.

Most staff are on site for long hours and consider the hospital their second home, especially doctors, making charging stations very convenient for them.

Likewise, doctors and dentists often have individuals or whole families who have been their patients for decades, and feel like family. Improving public health for them, and making it easier for them to purchase and drive an EV, is a valuable gift providers can give patients.

When leaving a healthcare facility, patients or their families may be upset, in pain, confused, or grieving, and those who drive EVs find charging on site a relief, rather than having one more thing to worry about.

An amenity to staff and patients, having EV chargers to the hospital and doctors’ office entrances encourages EV driving and reflects dedication to patient care.

Sending a Green Message with EV Charging

Just as doctors want to send the message that they care about patients, installing EV charging stations is a great way for hospitals to send the message that they care about their communities. Helping staff make the decision to purchase an EV can create change in air quality in the community, and send the message that the hospital staff are doing their part for environmental and patient health.