A new program at the Boston Medical Center says it prescribes solar panels to patients. But we wondered, what does that really mean?
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Recently I was talking to a friend of mine who works at the Boston Medical Center. She’s running a program that prescribes solar panels to patients.
I wanted to know more, so I sent Nat Hardy and Kolya Shields from our Possibly Team to Boston to check it out.
Nat Hardy: Hi, Megan!
Kolya Shields: Hello!
Megan Hall: So what’d you learn? Can a doctor really prescribe me solar panels?
Nat Hardy: Well yes and no! So the program is really exciting, but a doctor isn’t exactly going to write you a prescription that you can take to the pharmacy to pick up a solar panel.
Kolya Shields: What’s really happening, is they’re using solar panels to generate electricity, and that electricity helps cover the utility bills for their patients.
Nat Hardy: The program is called the Clean Power Prescription. To learn more, we talked to your friend- Doctor Anna Goldman. She’s a physician and the medical director of climate and sustainability at the Boston Medical Center.
Anna Goldman: We are under a solar canopy. So we can see the photovoltaic cells right above our heads and the sunlight streaming through.
Nat Hardy: The solar panels that we’re standing under are at the Boston Medical Center’s administration building. They generate enough energy to power about 50 homes around Boston.
Kolya Shields: The electricity made by these panels goes right into the local energy grid.
Anna Goldman The utility credits us for that energy on our account, and then we transfer the energy credits from our account to our patients accounts.
Nat Hardy: Those credits go to some of Boston Medical Center’s highest risk patients, people who don’t just need medical support, but also help with housing, mental health and other services.
Megan Hall: Okay so when people get that money, they use it to pay their electric bills?
Kolya Shields: Yeah Exactly! Anna says Boston Medical Center is the first healthcare system in the country to try something like this.
Megan Hall: Why is a medical center paying for its client’s energy bills?
Kolya Shields: Well, there are real health impacts if you can’t pay for your electricity!
Anna Goldman: If your utility is shut off you lose all the food in your fridge and you can’t keep fresh food in your home. And then there’s all kinds of medical devices that run on electricity.
Nat Hardy: Think about things like ventilators or oxygen concentrators…
Kolya Shields: Or even air conditioners! They help people stay healthy during the summer, especially older patients and anyone with a chronic condition.
Megan Hall: Yeah I guess that is pretty important! Are there any programs that help people keep their power on?
Nat Hardy: There are! Most states actually have programs that let doctors, like Anna, write letters to utility companies that prevent them from shutting off a patient’s power.
Anna Goldman: And I wrote one yesterday, actually, I write them frequently.
Nat Hardy: But the problem is, at least in Massachusetts, you still accumulate debt to the utility when this happens. Anna says a program that actually helps people pay their bills, can do more to address utility insecurity.
Kolya Shields: But she also says that it’s a bigger problem than just paying bills. Supporting patients financially also improves their health.
Anna Goldman: There’s a really straight through line between wealth and economic security and health outcomes. So if you’re spending so much of your money on a really basic need, like utilities, you don’t have funds to cover other really basic things.
Megan Hall: So how many patients are actually using this program?
Nat Hardy: Yeah, so right now the program is just starting – Their goal is to enroll around 80 patients and they’ll all receive an average of $50 a month off their utilities.
Kolya Shields: But Anna’s already getting calls from other healthcare systems who want to try something similar.
Anna Goldman: There’s a lot of interest, because I think people see that this program addresses both environmental justice and economic justice and energy justice.
Nat Hardy: The program is partially paid for with a new tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act, designed to fund solar projects that serve low-income communities.
Kolya Shields: Anna hopes that the program will continue to expand so it can help more patients.
Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Nat and Kolya!
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Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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