by Beth Trimarco
In California, we’ve all experienced the effects of climate change and pollution, ranging from crisis climate disasters like wildfires and flooding, to chronic, ongoing issues like bad air days, extreme heat and more. California is truly on the front lines of our changing, struggling planet.
Climate change and pollutants directly impact people’s health and the health of our communities — and they are also costing our healthcare industry billions of dollars. Across the nation, healthcare costs stemming from pollution and climate change exceed $820 billion annually according to the National Resources Defense Council. Additionally, growing climate disasters are causing disruptions in quality of care, like California fires destroying entire hospital networks or North Carolina communities getting medicine delivered by mules after Hurricane Helene in September.
At Blue Shield of California, we are taking bold action on climate change. However, it is when we come together in coalition with other organizations that we can make an even greater impact. The Oakland-headquartered program, Anchors in Resilient Communities, is doing just that — convening organizations to address health and climate disruption with the goal of building more resilient communities, together.
Anchors in Resilient Communities is a multi-stakeholder collaboration, co-coordinated by Health Care Without Harm and Emerald Cities Collaborative in Northern California. The collaboration brings together community stakeholders and “anchor institutions,” like Blue Shield of California, at select regional levels to identify opportunities to enhance community resiliency during climate events. Anchor institutions, according to Lucia Sayre, Health Care Without Harm’s regional director of Innovation and Resilience, are defined as “place-based entities, such as universities, hospitals, community foundations, county governments or municipalities, that are rooted in and committed to serving the local community through their missions. They are often among the largest employers and property holders in the communities they serve, providing community-focused programs.” The collaboration's goal is to improve health outcomes, as well as strengthen communities of color and low- and moderate-income residents to be resilient in the face of climate change.
In 2024, Anchors in Resilient Communities is one of four recipients across California selected to receive an environmental justice investment from Blue Shield, this year directed to organizations that support clean air or general climate resilience. The organizations selected are each located in different high-risk air quality areas where vulnerable communities are bearing heavy health burdens. As part of this investment, Anchors recently convened community leaders to strategize for increased engagement around community climate resilience, health equity and environmental sustainability.
Leading up to the Anchors convening in Oakland in October, staff conducted a series of comprehensive interviews with stakeholders to shape the agenda, surface any concerns and understand organizational priorities. Twenty anchor institutions, including Blue Shield of California as well as community-based and municipal organizations, were in attendance.
“It is clear that there are some terrific resiliency efforts happening in pockets all across the Bay Area,” said Tessa Verhoef, principal on Blue Shield's Sustainability team, who represented Blue Shield at the meeting. “It’s also clear from this convening that there is huge opportunity to better coordinate and share resources to strengthen our efforts and impact. The more coordinated our efforts, the more we can understand resiliency gaps and be better prepared to support our communities in the event of a climate-induced emergency.”
According to Sayre, meetings like this generate connectivity and help build trusting relationships between the public health community, private health care and community-based organizations, and pave the way to develop program-based strategies for climate mitigation, health and equity.
“Air quality issues like intense heat which can exacerbate ozone levels, wildfire smoke, industrial greenhouse gas emissions and freeway pollution directly affect people’s health, and where you live impacts your health outcomes,” said Sayre. “We’re going to listen to what the community needs, identify what is already happening on the ground, and discuss opportunities for anchor institutions to increase their support of community climate-resiliency efforts. One idea is to help support the design and creation of ‘climate-resilient hubs’ where the community can find refuge from poor air quality and extreme heat, as well as resources to help mitigate the ongoing impacts of climate disruption.”
Baylis Beard, Blue Shield of California’s director of Sustainability, sees opportunities like this as a way to not only learn about and leverage resources from one another but also provide reinforcement and “interweaving,” particularly with community-based organizations who may lack the resources to make the connections themselves. “If you think of resiliency as a fabric, like threads of a fabric we are stronger threaded together,” shared Beard. "So we are collaborating wherever we can — including organizing with other healthcare providers to promote sustainability efforts and reduce carbon emissions.”
As part of Blue Shield of California’s action on climate change, the nonprofit health plan is one of only a handful of health payer plans globally working to reduce our emissions by committing to the global Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). SBTi is the most rigorous and clearly defined pathway to reduce our carbon footprint in line with the Paris Accords. By 2025, Blue Shield has committed to set near-term, companywide emissions reductions and submit to SBTi for validation. Blue Shield is also actively engaging other U.S.-based health allies in environmentally sustainable health care and greater health equity for climate-vulnerable populations.
"A healthier environment leads to healthier people and when it comes to climate change, we can’t operate in silos. We can’t look at each other just as competitors — we have to think more broadly about how to catalyze our industry together around climate,” said Beard. “We’re proud to be a part of this collaborative action on climate change, and to support programs like Anchors in Resilient Communities that are bringing people together in such a big way and empowering our vulnerable neighbors to have a real voice in advancing environmental justice and health equity in our communities.”
To learn more about Anchors in Resilient Communities, visit anchorsinresilientcommunities.org.
The four recipients of Blue Shield of California’s 2024 environmental justice investments include: Anchors in Resilient Communities, Breathe Sacramento, Breathe Southern California, and Esperanza Community Housing Corporation.
To learn more about Blue Shield of California’s Corporate Citizenship efforts and commitment to environmental sustainability, visit citizenship.blueshieldca.com