April 18, 2025- NYC Health + Hospitals announced that the public health system has achieved a 52% annual reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions in its anesthesia practices systemwide, an achievement driven by the deactivation of central piped nitrous oxide (N₂O) and optimized use of anesthetic gases.
Four of the public health system’s hospital facilities, including NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, Elmhurst, Jacobi, and North Central Bronx, have fully deactivated the use of central N₂O in their anesthesia practices. Across the public health system, the collective reductions in CO₂e emissions as a result of deactivating central N₂O systems and reduced delivery of anesthetic gases amounts to over 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of taking approximately 1,100 gas-powered cars off the roads. NYC Health + Hospitals’ mitigation of CO₂e emissions in anesthesia can be attributed to ongoing changes in anesthesiologists’ clinical practices and the successful engineering controls of its facilities.
These efforts will continue to reduce the carbon footprint of the public health system’s operating rooms, improve patient and staff safety, and help achieve a 50% reduction in CO₂e by 2030, a core goal of the system’s Climate Resilience Plan.