Practice Greenhealth

Health Care Without Harm

Practice Greenhealth is part of the Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) network, an environmentalist coalition of health-system leaders, medical professions, community organizations, labor groups, and environmental advocates. The two organizations share employees and an office location and many of their programs overlap. In 2024, HCWH received nearly 5 percent of its revenue from governments. ²

Practice Greenhealth shares information and tools that scale Health Care Without Harm’s work and extends the organization’s mission. ³ Practice Greenhealth encourages its members to join the “Health Sector CARES Pledge,” a pledge for an organization to commit to preventing the “climate crisis” by reducing its “environmental impact.” ⁴

Activities

The Environmental Excellence Awards are Practice Greenhealth’s annual awards program that recognizes hospitals and systems for environmentalist achievements, including energy reduction, waste minimization, and climate action. Practice Greenhealth creates benchmark reports by using data submitted by award applicants to help hospitals track progress and share best practices. ⁵

Greening the Supply Chain is a Practice Greenhealth initiative that encourages environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) practices and engages suppliers and manufacturers to make products that align with EPP. ⁶

Practice Greenhealth oversees the Greenhealth Approved Seal, a qualification and application-based labeling system ⁷ that enables health care providers to procure products that reduce human and environmental impacts. ⁸ There is a fee charged for the initial product screening, and if the product meets Practice Greenhealth’s criteria there is then an annual licensing fee for use of the Seal. ⁹

History

In September 2001, Health Care Without Harm, along with the American Hospital Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Nurses Association created the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program. ¹⁰ In January 2008, H2E was reorganized and renamed Practice Greenhealth. ¹¹

Financials

In 2024, Practice Greenhealth received over $3.28 million in membership dues. ¹²

According to a 2023 IRS tax return, Health Care Without Harm gave Practice Greenhealth approximately $3.21 million.” ¹³

Leadership

Gary Cohen, a left-leaning environmentalist and health care advocate, was the president of Practice Greenhealth as of 2026 and a co-founder of Health Care Without Harm. In 2024, he earned $35,895 ¹⁴ and $100,601 in compensation from these groups respectively, totaling $136,496. ¹⁵

Paul Bogart stepped down as the executive director of Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm in the summer of 2025. In 2024, he earned $114,507 ¹⁶ and $106,769 ¹⁷ in compensation from these groups respectively, totaling $221,276. After Bogart’s departure, the two organizations moved to a chief executive officer model. ¹

In September 2025, Emily Bancroft became the CEO of Practice Greenhealth and HCWH. Prior to joining HCWH, she worked as president and CEO of VillageReach, an organization that works with governments and health professionals across the U.S. and Africa to improve access to care. Bancroft was a mentor for WomenLift North America’s 2025 North America Leadership Journey, a regional hub of WomenLife Health, and was on the board of directors for Nexleaf Analytics, a technology nonprofit that works with governments and global health organizations providing data solutions, equipment, technology, and policy change. ¹⁸