Climate change is already a health issue. Floods damage clinics. Heatwaves strain water and power supplies. Shifting disease patterns put new pressure on facilities that were never designed with climate in mind.
That’s why we developed SafeCare Green Standards (SGS) : a new module that adds 14 climate and environmental criteria to the SafeCare quality standards already used by thousands of facilities across the continent. In January 2025, we tested this module for the first time with 22 healthcare facilities in Kisumu County, Kenya. Here is what we learned.
Quality and climate move together
Facilities completed a digital self-assessment and received a green score out of 100, alongside a tailored improvement plan and access to World Health Organization-aligned checklists through the SafeCare dashboard. A follow-up assessment several months later let us check whether early progress held.
The headline finding: facility green performance tracks closely with overall care quality. At baseline, Green Standards scores correlated strongly with SafeCare quality scores, and that relationship held at follow-up — sustainability and quality move together, not against each other.
Some standards were already well embedded, like aligning patient referrals with location and sourcing supplies locally. Others revealed clear gaps, especially around wastewater monitoring, telemedicine, and biodegradable materials.
Nyangoma Sub-County Hospital improved and held its performance across all 14 Green Standards, earning it recognition as the pilot’s champion facility. Its team has already asked for support to expand solar power and plant more trees on site.
Standards revised based on feedback
Feedback from the 22 facilities led us to revise two standards to make them clearer for frontline staff. Engagement with the improvement plans was slow at first. It picked up once Kisumu County’s own Quality Improvement Focal Person started following up directly with facilities, not just SafeCare.
The Kisumu County Government dedicated Quality Advisor time throughout the pilot. Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET) is now helping pursue funding to scale the model. A community event reached over 100 healthcare workers directly.
What’s next
The appetite for this work is growing faster than the pilot itself. This year, 54 additional facilities in Kisumu were assessed using Green Standards, inspired by the original 22.
SafeCare Green Standards is now available to all facilities using SafeCare.
The SafeCare Green Standards pilot in Kisumu County was made possible with support from Grand Challenges Canada, in partnership with Kisumu County Government, the Kisumu Medical and Education Trust (KMET), and the DIDIDA consortium.