The profitable hospital system with sustainability in its DNA

We have all heard the aphorism "health is wealth." Gundersen Health Systems, a nonprofit hospital network operating in 19 counties across three Midwest states, is proving this.

In 2008, Gundersen — headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where it is its county’s largest employer — began the path to achieve carbon neutrality. By October 2014, it became the first U.S. health system to attain energy independence by producing more energy than it consumed, at least some of the time.

"Since then, we’ve had hundreds of days where we produced more energy than we used, but we’re still working on getting to 100 percent all the time," said pediatrician Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, executive advisor and CEO emeritus at Gundersen Health Systems and a White House Champion of Change.