Nicholas Students Develop Strategic Growth Plan for Beth Israel Deaconess (BID) Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess (BID) Medical Center has a very strong, award-winning sustainability program at its main campus in Boston, but as the BID healthcare system grows, the organization wants to strategically expand this program to its network of community-based hospitals.

Recently, BID Environmental Sustainability Program Manager Elise Vergnano enlisted a team of Nicholas graduate students to help develop a strategic growth plan based on best practices in corporate sustainability. The students were available to consult as part of Sustainable Business Strategy, a course Vergnano had taken herself during her time as a professional environmental master’s student at Duke.

Vergnano shared the students’ final report and recommendations with BIDMC’s Environmental Sustainability Committee, and it has helped to spark an internal conversation about how the organization wants to grow its sustainability program beyond the cornerstone medical center’s walls. The report has provided a baseline as BID’s environmental sustainability team works to develop an internal strategic plan to support environmental initiatives throughout the BID system moving forward.

“The Nicholas students I worked with were smart and resourceful. They were able to take my input and create a report that I can use and share with others in my organization as we enter a strategic planning phase for sustainability program expansion.” 
-Elise Vergnano
Environmental Sustainability Program Manager, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center