A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A doctor got tired of hearing that her patients couldn't afford electricity to power basic but critical medical needs, such as running their breathing assistance machines, recharging their wheelchairs or even keeping their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with a colleague on a way to prescribe electricity. From member station WBUR in Boston, here's Martha Bebinger.
MARTHA BEBINGER, BYLINE: The power comes from rows and rows of solar panels on the roof of a Boston Medical Center office building.
I think I'm good. Thank you, though.
I climb a ladder to the edge of that roof with Dr. Anna Goldman and Bob Biggio, the hospital's chief sustainability officer.
All right. I'll get off right now.
BOB BIGGIO: Yeah, off the edge.
BEBINGER: We move to a safe spot amid these 519 panels. The hospital uses half of the energy they generate. The rest goes to 80 low-income patients who have chronic and complex medical needs. They're getting a credit of about $50 a month on their utility bill. Goldman says hospital questionnaires show thousands of patients struggle to pay that bill. She describes one recent conversation.
ANNA GOLDMAN: Someone who had a hospital bed at home - they were using so much energy because of the hospital bed that they were facing utility shutoff. So I provided them a letter.
BEBINGER: Doctors at Boston Medical Center wrote nearly 1,700 letters to utility companies last year, asking them to keep a patient's gas or electricity running. Biggio, the hospital's real estate guy, wants more panels so more patients receive the energy credits. He's already mapped locations.
BIGGIO: One would be canopies right over the parking lot down here. We're looking at all different areas. I think we currently have scoped out almost $11 million worth of additional solar that could be installed on our campus.
BEBINGER: That would provide credits for 10 times as many patients. Biggio says installation is doable here and at other hospitals, as long as federal solar assistance continues. For Biggio and Goldman, providing power fits the hospital's mission to help patients cope with hunger and other nonmedical health needs. Goldman looks past the solar panels to a large vegetable garden.
GOLDMAN: We're actually growing food for our patients. And similarly, now we are producing electricity for our patients as a way to address all of the factors that can contribute to health outcomes.
BEBINGER: Many hospitals help patients sign up for electricity or heating assistance, because research shows not having them increases respiratory problems, mental distress and makes it hard to sleep. Dr. Aparna Bole in the Biden administration's Office of Climate Change and Health Equity says these are common problems for low- and moderate-income patients.
APARNA BOLE: To be able to connect those very patients with clean, renewable energy in such a way that reduces their utility bills is really groundbreaking.
BEBINGER: And a relief for Kiki Polk. The school bus and lunch room monitor has a history of diabetes, high blood pressure and is nine months pregnant. Polk turns on the air conditioner in her living room window occasionally these days and sways back and forth in front of it.
KIKI POLK: My AC is my best friend and my enemy (laughter).
BEBINGER: Her enemy because Polk cannot afford to run it, so she tries to use a fan or open a window when she overheats. But Polk got behind on her utility bill. She was surprised to hear the hospital offer help.
POLK: You know, I always think they're only there for, like, you know, medical stuff, and not outside personal, you know, financial issues. But I didn't know the doctors had that much, you know, pull.
BEBINGER: Polk says she's grateful for the credits, and her utility company's assistance, too. But her bill is still high, so...
POLK: All right, AC, you got to go off. Bye-bye (laughter).
BEBINGER: That's a decision many patients will make today - turning off the device they need to stay comfortable or breathe more easily or get around, to avoid running up a bill they cannot pay or getting a notice that their electricity may be shut off.
For NPR News, I'm Martha Bebinger in Boston.
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