ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Health Resources is again a Texan by Nature TxN 20 honoree. This is the fifth consecutive year the system has been recognized for its sustainability efforts. Texas Health has been on the list since its introduction and is the only health system recognized.

The new nine-story Jane and John Justin Surgical Tower at Texas Health Fort Worth meets green building guidelines.

Texan by Nature (TxN) is a nonprofit organization founded by former first lady Laura Bush to bring conservation and business together for the benefit of Texas’ people, prosperity, and natural resources. The TxN 20 honor recognizes the best and most innovative work in conservation from businesses in Texas.

“We are committed to improving the health of the people in the communities we serve,” said Texas Health CEO Barclay Berdan, FACHE. “As a health system, optimizing conservation is much more than simply using less energy and water. It’s about providing the most affordable, accessible and appropriate resources that improve people’s health and well-being.”

This honor recognizes a broad range of conservation and sustainability efforts across Texas Health, including services, workflows, processes and community outreach.

Texas Health is using conservation measures that reduce waste, energy and water consumption to build and operate locations. While the system’s footprint is expanding, these efforts are helping minimize environmental impacts.

New construction projects meet green building guidelines, including the nine-story Jane and John Justin Surgical Tower at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth completed in 2022.

Work to improve health outcomes is underway through North Texas Healthy Communities (NTHC), a non-profit outreach arm of Texas Health. NTHC supports school districts, city and county governments and community partners to help reduce health disparities and increase health and well-being. For example, NTHC supports a Culled Produce Recovery Project which delivers unsold produce to school/community pantries and urban farms.

Texas Health conservation and sustainability initiatives include:

• Recycling an estimated 1.93 million pounds of materials and diverting 71,753 pounds of single-use devices from landfills in 2022.
• Continuous use of low-flow toilets, waterless urinals, water-efficient irrigation, operational systems and laundry services to conserve water.
• Donating volunteer hours by employees at more than 300 local nonprofits through our Community Time Off (CTO) program. Much of that volunteer service is focused on conservation and sustainability projects, including food banks, meal delivery, farmers markets, community gardens, urban farming, tree plantings and park revitalization efforts.
• Continually, improving business and clinical processes through robust technologies, data and analytics, including online dashboards that analyze data in near-real time to optimize performance.

Follow this link for more information about the 2023 Texan by Nature honorees.