Ten in Two: Claire Gervais, MD

Ten in Two is a new series from WEHN. We engage with people across Wisconsin, share stories about their climate change work where they find inspiration, and their hopes for how it changes the public health landscape in Wisconsin. We will ask the same ten questions and their answers will take 2 minutes to read.

We hope their words will spark ideas, generate hope, and inspire you to take action on climate change.

1. Name and Job Title

Claire Gervais, MD, family medicine physician, UW Health

2. The Wisconsin community you call home and why

We have lived in Madison since 1993. 

I grew up in North Dakota, but my family used to drive from Bismarck to Detroit, MI to visit relatives. I loved the drive through Wisconsin because of the hills, trees, and lakes. It was the best part of the trip, and I have vivid memories of the beauty of the landscape. 

Fast forward a few years, I moved to Eau Claire for my residency because of its strong family medicine program. When I finished my residency we moved to Madison. Politically, it aligned with what we believed and as it turns out, a lot of the environmental activism work  my husband and I do interfaces with the State Capitol.

I also love that Madison is bikeable. We love our neighborhood, and it’s halfway between the hospital and clinic where I work.

3. How do you describe what you do?

I have cared for patients, often whole families, from birth to death, including delivering hundreds of babies in my career. I am involved in several non-profits working on climate change and health and I also volunteer with Madison Street Medicine to offer and coordinate medical care for the homeless.

4. What was the first thing you did this week (personally or professionally) to counteract the negative health impacts of climate change?

I met virtually with a clinic in Belvidere, Illinois to talk to them about decreasing the climate footprint in our healthcare organization. It is part of a year-long faculty project I am working on to raise awareness about the connection between climate change and healthcare. 

I am meeting with 16 clinics to gauge clinicians' interest and knowledge, and gather ideas about what to focus on in regard to decreasing our organizations’ healthcare carbon footprint. They don’t have a lot of time, but they have interest. Their observations about what is happening in their clinics empowers us to work with our leaders at UW Health to continue to gain traction on our sustainability efforts within the organization.

5. How is climate change work and public health crucial to your work and life?

Climate change is the biggest public health threat of the 21st century and healthcare is paradoxically responsible for 8.5% of the US carbon emissions, which is huge! It’s part of our mission and values in healthcare to improve population health, yet we are part of the impact of climate change on human health. It is crucial that clinicians and health systems are aware of this threat for both patient care and to demand that their health systems work on decreasing their carbon footprint.

6. How does your local community/environment impact your work?

My environmental health community is very strong and passionate. I am amazed at the talent and passion of those I work with.

One example is Dr. Karin Zuegge, an anesthesiologist. She was hired as our Medical Director for Sustainability because of her work on reducing the carbon footprint of anesthesia gasses. One of the anesthesia gasses we use has a huge carbon footprint. On her own time, she researched alternatives with a lower carbon footprint, brought the information to UW Health, and they made the change, saving the organization a lot of money. 

Now she works with Mary Evers Statz, Energy Management and Sustainability Director. The two of them, along with those of us who do a lot of work around climate change and health, worked hard to gather information to convince leadership to put solar panels on our new building parking structures in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint.

7. Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

I have to say that the environmental health community is most inspirational. They also challenge me and hold me accountable for the work I am doing. My personal inspiration is my young adult children and those most vulnerable to the health effects of climate change, since the decisions we make now to lessen the effects of climate change is going to affect generations to come as well as those most vulnerable.

8. What impact do you hope to have?

I hope to plant seeds and inspire others to do this work. You never know who will step up as a result of your relationship with them. 

9. What does a healthy life mean to you?

Self care is very important, which I both pay attention to and speak to my patients about. I also realize the many challenges people have to doing that self care, including their environment.

For my own self-care, sitting for a long time contributes to back pain, so I try to get up from my chair and do something active, like work out. Doing sets of arm exercises and squats, for example, not only helps my body, but provides oxygenation to the brain to increase alertness and focus.

I encourage my patients to get up and walk around for even a few minutes. Walk around their building, take a walk at lunchtime. Sitting for a long time is as much of a health risk as smoking. I talk to them about food too, eating better and noticing how your body feels. 

10. If you could change one thing in our healthcare system to mitigate the impacts of climate change on public health, what would it be and why?

Currently there is a volunteer pledge from the US Department of Health and Human Services to reduce emissions in health care. I would like to see this become a mandate with funding from  the Inflation Reduction Act to make needed changes in our organizations to meet the benchmarks. 

We also need to address the impact of single-use disposable items. The justification for their use is to decrease the spread of infectious disease, but there’s a lack of evidence to support this claim. Healthcare needs to get creative to solve this huge problem of contributing large amounts of waste.

We are beginning to see change. Just last week, The Joint Commission, an organization that accredits hospitals, announced that sustainability will now be part of their mission. We need that kind of commitment of leadership if we are going to make a real impact to decrease the carbon footprint of healthcare.