Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action continues to advance our core mission of mobilizing clinician advocates for climate solutions in Virginia. Our work focuses on advocacy, education, and healthcare sustainability.
We are the first and only organization to bring the health voice in support of climate policymaking in Virginia. VCCA has created reports and videos that have been heavily cited by partners in support of the passage and protection of Virginia’s landmark Virginia Clean Economy Act and Clean Cars legislation. Our clinician members frequently participate in hearings and press conferences to support state clean energy policies, and we have developed numerous partnerships with universities, medical societies, and non-profit organizations to support this work. We participate in the development of legislation to protect Virginians from climate risks such as extreme heat and to increase clean energy deployment. Every year, VCCA holds an annual Advocacy Day in our state capital. In 2023, over 70 healthcare professionals and trainees came to Richmond to advocate for climate policy that protects health in the Commonwealth, an event that was featured on this television news piece.
VCCA educates the public on the health benefits of climate solutions through award-winning factsheets and videos about topics such as defending the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and protecting youth from heat illness. With a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, VCCA is partnering with the City of Roanoke, Virginia Tech University, and Carilion Clinic in a coalition entitled “Building Heat Resilience in Southwestern Virginia through Education”. The project aims to increase resilience in Southwest Virginia by building a cross-sector urban heat resilience environmental literacy network.
Our educational work includes climate and health curriculum development at schools of health training across the Commonwealth. VCCA created a Virginia Climate and Health Education Collaborative in 2021 which holds a yearly summit that provides support, resource sharing, and inspiration to health trainees amongst regional programs. Since inception, our members have launched climate and health curricula at 8 regional schools of health training, including medicine, nursing, and physician assistant programs. Two VCCA leaders direct the University of Virginia School of Medicine Climate and Health elective, which has filled to capacity with one-fifth of the medical school class every year since 2022. We partner with the University of Virginia School of Nursing on a yearly Health in A Changing Climate conference. The 2023 event successfully brought together local, national, and international leaders on healthcare waste and emission reduction and was featured in UVA’s Office of Engagement blog, Thoughts From the Lawn.
Looking forward, VCCA looks forward to expanding the presence of our newly created Healthcare Sustainability Committee to lead as a source of expertise on the intersection of healthcare and sustainability throughout Virginia. We are proud to be part of a collaboration with the County of Arlington that was selected by the EPA for a three-year grant from the Environmental Justice Government to Government Program Fund commencing in 2024.