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A hospital’s fleet vehicles such as ambulances, courier cars and vans, supply trucks, home health care vehicles, and shuttle buses each has an emissions footprint. This is true whether driving miles across town to deliver care or idling in the ambulance bay.
Transitioning fleet vehicles to alternative fuels, implementing idle reduction practices and policies, streamlining travel routes to reduce unnecessary driving, and other tactics can all substantially reduce an organization’s fuel costs and emissions levels. Patients, employees, and the larger community also benefit from the reduction in… Read More
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Innovative transportation strategies can improve health and well-being by inviting employees to step out of their cars and into more active and healthy modes of travel. Hospitals and health systems that have incentivized alternative commuting practices see more engaged, healthy and active employees, and significantly reduced single-occupancy vehicle rates, miles, and greenhouse gas emissions.
These programs can also be attractive to the next generation of talented and energetic health care recruits by demonstrating dedication to the health and well-being of employees, the community, and the… Read More
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Many hospitals and health systems face transportation challenges, including:
Existing parking structures for employees and visitors are at maximum capacity and costly expansions aren’t feasible.
Idling ambulances and delivery trucks are wasting fuel, increasing hospital fuel costs and the overhead costs for supplies.
Excess emissions from idling vehicles and employee single-vehicle commuters flow into the surrounding environment, where employees, visitors, neighbors, and patients breathe them in – a huge health concern, as vehicle emissions contain particulates linked to lung damage,… Read More
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Practice Greenhealth's Kaeleigh Sheehan facilitating a workshop at CleanMed.
Though a tiny percentage of a hospital's total physical footprint, operating rooms have a big impact on hospital budgets.
The health care sector produces 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S and hospitals represent 36% alone. And operating rooms are their hot spots for emissions, waste, and energy use. A typical OR can make up half of a hospital’s aggregate costs, produce 33% of a facility’s waste, consume more energy per square foot than any other area of the hospital, and anesthetic gases alone… Read More
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Launched in the Fall of 2020, the Greenhealth Approved program builds on the legacy of the Healthier Hospital Initiative by providing an easy way to identify products that meet the criteria of Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth. The program uses a transparent validation process that is either completed by Greenhealth Approved resources, or through collaboration with a third-party certifier. The program’s priorities include reducing duplication of document submittals for suppliers, consistent processes for validation based on the product category and accessibility for… Read More
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Reducing surplus food is at the top of the EPA food recovery hierarchy because it has the greatest financial, environmental, and social impacts.
Use our guidance to determine which source reduction strategies will work best for your facility and how to integrate them into your standard operating policies and procedures. Track your impact, and share results with leadership.
Assemble the team
In addition to your core team, you may want to include people with roles such as the executive chef, nutrition and dietetics, inventory manager, prep, line cooks, catering, and front of house servers… Read More
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Rather than disposing of supplies, equipment, and devices that are in good working order when a facility is finished with them, many of our member hospitals report they’ve identified ways to reuse, donate, remanufacture, or take advantage of take-backs for these items.
While it takes time to identify and arrange these reuse strategies, the costs saved by reducing haul-away disposal costs are substantial.
Practice Greenhealth offers tools, resources, and case studies to help our members to assess the best ways to reuse or donate equipment and other items rather than create waste.
Reuse,… Read More
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Solid waste is the largest waste stream for health care organizations, comprising two-thirds of all hospital waste. Though relatively straightforward to dispose of, the sheer volume of solid waste consumes more than 30 percent of the hospital’s total waste budget. It is also often called municipal, black bag, clear bag, or non-regulated medical waste.
Solid waste from hospitals resembles the waste generated in other sectors or even from residential neighborhoods: paper, cardboard, food waste, textiles, plastics, and other non-regulated trash, but with more plastic from gloves, catheter… Read More
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Plant Powered 30 is a 30-day challenge to inspire your employees to choose a plant-forward meal once per day (and hopefully more!). Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth have created all the promotional materials you will need to run this fun and engaging challenge for your employees.
Plant Powered 30 is part of Plant-Forward Future, a curated set of resources from Practice Greenhealth, Health Care Without Harm, and our partners that will help health care facilities set a plant-forward goal, menu and market plant-forward dishes, and track their progress.
Have you run Plant… Read More
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Practice Greenhealth is the health care sector’s go-to source for information, tools, data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives that help hospitals and health systems meet their health, financial, and community goals.