Dr., a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center. Anna Goldman is tired of hearing that her patients can’t afford the electricity needed to run their respiratory support machines, charge their wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or even keep their refrigerators plugged in. So he worked with his hospital to find a solution.

The result is a pilot project called the Clean Power Recipe program. The initiative aims to help approximately 80 patients with complex, chronic medical needs keep the lights on and the gas on.

The program relies on 519 solar panels installed on the roof of one of the hospital’s office buildings. Half of the energy produced by the panels helps power the medical center. The rest goes to patients, who receive a monthly credit of about $50 on their bills.

Kiki Polk was among the first buyers. He has a history of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Polk, nine months pregnant, leaned against the air conditioning window unit in her living room on a warm fall day.

“Oh God, that feels so good, baby,” Polk purred, rocking back and forth. “This is my best friend and my worst enemy.”

An enemy because Polk can’t afford to turn on the air conditioning. On cold days, she uses a fan or opens a window instead. Polk knows risks of overheating during pregnancyIncluding increased stress on the pregnant person’s heart and potential risks to the fetus. He also has a teenage daughter who, according to her mother, uses the air conditioner in her bedroom too much.

Polk is behind on his electric bill. Electricity provider Eversource worked with him on a payment plan. But the bills were still high for Polk, who worked as a school bus and cafeteria supervisor. He was surprised when hospital staff offered help.

“I always think they’re only there for medical issues,” Polk said, “not for personal financial issues.”

Goldman, who is also Boston Medical Center’s medical director of climate and sustainability, said hospital screening surveys show thousands of patients like Polk are struggling to pay their bills.

“I recently talked to someone who had a hospital bed in his home,” Goldman said. “They were using so much energy because of the hospital bed that they were facing power outages. ”

Goldman wrote a letter to the patient’s utility company requesting that the power remain on. He and his hospital colleagues wrote 1,674 letters to utility companies last year asking them to keep patients’ gas or electricity on.

Goldman took the trick to Bob Biggio, the hospital’s head of sustainability and real estate. It relied on solar panels to help the hospital switch to renewable energy, but sharing the power fit the health system’s mission.

“Boston Medical Center has been focusing on low-income communities and working to change their health outcomes for over 100 years,” Biggio said. “So this seemed like the right thing to do.”

Standing among the solar panels on the roof, Goldman could see the edge of a large vegetable garden one floor below.

“We actually grow food for our patients,” he said. “And similarly, we are now generating electricity for our patients as a way to address all the factors that may contribute to health outcomes.”

Many hospitals help patients sign up for electric or heating assistance because research shows they do not have these benefits Increases breathing problems, mental distress, and makes it difficult to sleep.

D., a pediatrician and senior advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. These are common problems for low- and middle-income patients, said Aparna Bole. But Boston Medical Center’s approach to solving these problems may be the first of its kind, he said.

“Being able to connect these patients to clean, renewable energy in a way that reduces their electric bills is truly groundbreaking,” Bole said.

Bole uses case study joined the solar credit program to show other hospitals how they could do something similar. Boston Medical Center officials estimate the cost of the project at $1.6 million and said 60% of the funding came from the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Biggio has laid out plans for an additional $11 million in solar installations if he can get more federal funding help.

“Our goal is to scale this pilot and help many more patients,” he said.

The expansion Biggio envisions would allow for a 10-fold increase in the number of patients who could receive services from the program, but it would still not meet all demand. For now, each patient in the pilot program receives assistance for only one year. Boston Medical Center is looking for partners who might be willing to share solar energy with hospital patients in exchange for higher federal tax credits or reimbursements.

Tilak Subrahmanian, Eversource’s vice president of energy efficiency, said the pilot project was a complex project to launch, but now that it’s in place, it can be expanded.

“We will solve this if other institutions are willing to step in,” Subrahmanian said, “because there is such a need.”