| Course | MHA 560 Creating a Sustainable Legacy: Healthy Communities (MHA/560) |
|---|---|
| Week | 5 |
| Paper type | Organizational sustainability program paper |
| Length | about 1,150 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | MHA |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for MHA 560 Week 5
From a Few Enthusiasts to a Hospital-Wide Habit: Building a Sustainability Program That Spreads From the Operating Rooms to the Kitchen and Stays After the Chief Executive Retires
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MHA/560: Creating a Sustainable Legacy: Healthy Communities
Week 5 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The hospital, its sustainability program, departments and results are composites written for a model paper; research findings come from the sources cited.
A year after the operating room projects began at the composite Milwaukee safety-net hospital, the anesthesia projects had saved more than they cost and cut anesthetic gas emissions sharply. The chair of the sustainability working group, an operating room nurse, asked the chief executive a question: how do we get the rest of the hospital to do this? With two years left before her retirement, the chief executive wanted an answer that would survive her departure. This paper describes the program they built.
From Projects to a System
A set of projects depends on the people who started them. A system has structure, goals, owners, measurement and reporting that continue when people change. The first decision was to treat sustainability as a management system like quality or safety.
Why Some Practices Spread
A major review of why new practices take hold in health care organizations looked beyond the practice itself to the people asked to use it, how ready the organization is and the pressures around it. Of the practice's own traits, what helps most is being plainly better than the old way, sitting comfortably with existing values and routines, being easy to grasp, allowing a small trial first, making its benefits visible to others and leaving room for local adjustment (Greenhalgh et al., 2004).
Why the Anesthesia Projects Worked
The operating room projects had these attributes: clear savings and emissions reductions, compatibility with clinicians' commitment to patients' health, simple changes, trial on a few cases before a full switch and monthly reports that made results visible. The program would look for the same attributes in its next projects.
Designing the Council
Research on hospitals that changed their cultures successfully found that the most successful had guiding coalitions that included staff from different disciplines and levels, authentic participation in the coalition's work and the capacity to manage conflict (Bradley et al., 2018). The sustainability council was designed accordingly: the chief operating officer as chair, the working group's nurse leader as vice chair and members from anesthesia, facilities, supply chain, food service, environmental services, finance, infection prevention and two front-line staff members.
Authority and Accountability
The council sets targets, approves projects, tracks results and reports quarterly to the executive team and annually to the board. Each practice area has an executive owner. Without authority, the council would be a discussion group.
Establishing a Baseline
The program measured energy use, anesthetic agent purchases, waste volumes by stream, food purchases and waste and staff commuting patterns for one year to set a baseline for each area.
Practice Area One: Anesthesia and Energy
The operating room work continues, with the ventilation setback project and hospital-wide lighting and heating controls added.
Practice Area Two: Waste
Environmental services and the operating rooms redesigned waste streams so that regulated medical waste, which is expensive to treat, contains only what it must. Clear bins and training reduce mis-sorted waste.
Practice Area Three: Food Service
Food service was the next area with high potential. Interviews with food service directors in veterans hospitals implementing sustainability standards found that the leading motivators were reducing food waste, serving healthier food and saving money; that barriers included patient preferences, vendor contracts and costs; and that facilitators and best practices included taste testing, easy access to sustainable products from the main vendor, plant-forward versions of familiar dishes and plate waste studies to prevent overproduction (Williams et al., 2024). The practices that worked in veterans hospitals started from what patients already liked to eat.
Applying the Food Service Lessons
The hospital's food service director ran a plate waste study, reduced overproduction on the cafeteria line, tested plant-forward versions of popular dishes with staff and patients and worked with the main vendor to stock more local and sustainable products.
Practice Area Four: Purchasing
Supply chain added sustainability criteria to purchasing decisions for major categories, such as reusable items where safe, lower-emission products and local suppliers, which also supports the hospital's community goals.
Practice Area Five: Transportation
The program encouraged transit, carpooling and bicycling for staff through subsidized transit passes and secure bicycle storage.
Starting Small in Each Area
Following the diffusion evidence, each practice area began with a small trial. Waste sorting was tested on two units before hospital-wide rollout. Food service tested three plant-forward dishes in the cafeteria before changing patient menus. Purchasing tested sustainability criteria on one product category. Each trial produced visible results that made the next step easier.
Early Results
In the program's first year, regulated medical waste fell by 14% after the waste stream redesign, cafeteria food waste fell by about a fifth after the plate waste study and overproduction changes and energy use per square foot fell by 6%. The results were modest but visible, and they built support for the second year's targets.
Linking to the Community
Several practices also serve the hospital's community goals. Local purchasing directs spending to north side businesses, and reduced air pollution benefits neighborhoods with high asthma rates. The council reports these links so staff see sustainability as part of the hospital's mission rather than a separate cause.
Engaging Staff
Each department names a sustainability champion who attends quarterly meetings, brings ideas and shares results. Staff suggestions are tracked, and the council reports which were adopted. The program celebrates results, such as the food service team's reduction in waste, in hospital communications and at leadership meetings.
Addressing Barriers
Barriers differ by department. Clinicians worry about safety; infection prevention reviews every change that touches patient care. Managers worry about time; the program provides data and support rather than new reporting burdens. Finance worries about cost; each project comes with an economic analysis.
Reporting
An annual sustainability report to the board and staff presents baseline, targets and results for each practice area, alongside the financial and quality reports.
Making It Outlast Its Founders
The chief executive asked the board to include sustainability goals in the hospital's strategic plan and in the chief executive's objectives, whoever holds the role. The council's structure, charter and reporting schedule do not depend on any individual.
Measures and Targets
Targets for three years include a 30% reduction in operating room anesthetic gas emissions from baseline, a 15% reduction in energy use per square foot, a 20% reduction in regulated medical waste, a 25% reduction in food waste and 20% of food purchases from local or sustainable sources.
Conclusion
The operating room nurse's question, how to get the whole hospital involved, led to a management system: a council built on research about successful change, practice areas chosen for impact, practices selected for the attributes that help innovations spread, lessons from food service research and reporting that ties sustainability to governance. The program is designed to be a hospital habit rather than one leader's project.
References
Bradley, E. H., Brewster, A. L., McNatt, Z., Linnander, E. L., Cherlin, E., Fosburgh, H., Ting, H. H., & Curry, L. A. (2018). How guiding coalitions promote positive culture change in hospitals: A longitudinal mixed methods interventional study. BMJ Quality & Safety, 27(3), 218-225. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2017-006574
Greenhalgh, T., Robert, G., Macfarlane, F., Bate, P., & Kyriakidou, O. (2004). Diffusion of innovations in service organizations: Systematic review and recommendations. The Milbank Quarterly, 82(4), 581-629. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0887-378X.2004.00325.x
Williams, B. D., Pitts, S. J., Onufrak, S. J., Sirois, E., Utech, A., Wood, M., Silverman, J., Ajenikoko, F., Murphy, M., & Lowry Warnock, A. (2024). A qualitative exploration of barriers, facilitators and best practices for implementing environmental sustainability standards and reducing food waste in veterans affairs hospitals. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 37(6), 1420-1431. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.13357
What the MHA 560 Week 5 instructions ask
In MHA 560 Week 5, students generally examine how sustainability practices are implemented and sustained within health care organizations. Students may need to describe structures such as committees or offices, identify practice areas such as energy, waste, food and purchasing, explain how to engage staff and leaders, discuss barriers and show how progress will be measured. A few versions instead call for evaluating a program already in place. Look closely at your version's requirements. Strong papers treat sustainability as a management system rather than a set of projects, use research on how practices spread and cultures change, address barriers specific to health care and include governance, measurement and reporting that continue after individual champions leave.
How this MHA 560 Week 5 example is built
The paper opens a year after the operating room projects began, when the working group's chair asks how to spread the approach beyond the surgical suite. A landmark review of innovation diffusion explains why some practices spread and others stall. Research on hospital culture change informs the design of a sustainability council. Five practice areas are set: anesthesia and energy, waste, food service, purchasing and transportation. Interviews with veterans hospital food service directors guide the food service work. Staff engagement through unit champions, a governance structure reporting to the board and an annual sustainability report close the paper, with measures and three-year targets.
MHA 560 Week 5 grading rubric: where the points go
The sustainability practice week is typically graded on the design of a lasting program, evidence on implementation and practical detail. Graders look for governance structures, clearly defined practice areas, strategies for engaging staff, attention to barriers, measures and reporting and plans that outlast individual champions. Research on innovation diffusion and organizational change strengthens the paper considerably. Specific examples from departments such as food service or facilities earn credit, as does evidence on what helps practices spread. The final marks reflect structure and APA citation. Papers that list green projects without a management system, or rely on enthusiasm alone, commonly lose points, as do programs with no baseline to measure against.
MHA 560 Week 5 help: mistakes to avoid
MHA 560 Week 5 papers often list recycling, lighting and paper reduction without explaining how an organization makes them stick. Build a system: a governing body with authority, a baseline, targets, owners and regular reporting. Choose practice areas where impact is largest, which in hospitals often means anesthesia, energy and supply chain rather than paper. Use research on how practices spread: start with changes that are clearly better, easy to try and visible. Involve staff through champions and let them shape the work. Address barriers specific to each department. Finally, report results publicly inside the organization and to the board, so the program survives leadership changes and new leaders inherit clear commitments.
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MHA 560 Week 5 questions, answered
What does MHA/560 Week 5 usually ask for?
The fifth paper typically asks students to explain how sustainability practices are implemented and sustained within a health care organization, including structures, practice areas, staff engagement and measures.
Where can I find a free MHA 560 Week 5 sample paper?
Read the hospital sustainability program paper above at no charge; each design choice carries a note. Tell us about your organization's program, and we draft your first paper at no cost.
Why do some sustainability practices spread and others do not?
Practices take hold more easily when people can see they are better, when they fit how staff already work, when they are simple and can be tried small, and when their results are easy to see.
What helps hospitals make food service more sustainable?
Interviews with veterans hospital food service directors found facilitators such as taste testing new recipes and easy access to sustainable products, and best practices such as plant-forward versions of familiar dishes and plate waste studies.
Who should lead a hospital sustainability program?
Typically a council with executive sponsorship and members from clinical, facilities, supply chain, food service and front-line staff, reporting regularly to the board.
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