Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading membership and networking organization for organizations in the health care community that has made a commitment to sustainable, environmentally preferable practices.
Health Care Without Harm partnered with the American Hospital Association, Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Nurses Association in September 2001 to create the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program. With funding from the EPA and assistance from HCWH, H2E hired core staff and began outreach efforts to the health care sector with a primary focus of getting hospitals to commit to the goals of:
- virtual elimination of mercury waste,
- reduction of the health care sector’s total waste volume,
- chemical waste minimization, and
- education and information sharing activities focused on pollution prevention and toxics minimization.
In January of 2008, H2E was reorganized and renamed Practice Greenhealth, in order to more accurately reflect its new role as a membership organization representing health care organizations committed to the integration of sustainability principles and practices as a means to better protect the health of patients, staff, the communities served, and the environment.
Today, Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading membership and networking organization for organizations in the health care community that has made a commitment to sustainable, environmentally preferable practices. Practice Greenhealth members include hospitals and health care systems, health care providers, manufacturers and service providers, architectural, engineering, and design firms, group purchasing organizations, and affiliated non-profit organizations. Practice Greenhealth offers practical and cost-effective programs to its members and continues to educate, motivate and engage the sector to move toward a higher standard of care.
