GREEN Hospitals Act

Better Protected Medical Facilities: Section 2 amends the Public Health Service Act to prioritize projects that add disaster resilience and climate change mitigation, such as installing onsite renewable energy, backup power, high-efficiency heat pumps, air filtration systems, and green infrastructure like wetlands and rooftops. This helps ensure continuous health care access and protects patient health during severe weather, wildfires, and pandemics.

Support for Vulnerable and Underserved Communities: Section 3 establishes a Planning and Evaluation Grant Program that gives priority to medical facilities serving a high proportion of Medicare, Medicaid, or uninsured patients, as well as facilities in neighborhoods with low air quality, lack of green space, or high pollution burdens. Additionally, the text explicitly mandates that not less than 50 percent of these planning grant funds must be used for projects located in environmental justice communities.

Fair Wages for Workers: Section 3 requires applicants to provide reasonable assurance that all laborers and mechanics employed on a project will be paid prevailing wages determined by the Secretary of Labor under the Davis-Bacon Act. This ensures that workers on these projects are paid fair local wages.

Worker Protections and Labor Standards: Sections 2 and 3 require facilities to give reasonable assurance that they either have a collective bargaining agreement with labor organizations or have an explicit policy not to interfere with employee rights under section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. Additionally, Section 3 prohibits employers and training providers from using agreements that require employees or training participants to pay a debt if their employment or training period is terminated.