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Stewardship is a key aspect of the culture at Virginia Mason, as we strive to carefully manage the resources that keep our community in good health. One area of stewardship that is often overlooked in health care is the need to protect the environment. We know it makes good sense to reduce pollution for future generations. At an industry level, health care has lagged behind in taking proactive steps to protect our natural resources, but Virginia Mason is ahead of the curve. We were the first hospital in the Pacific Northwest to begin recycling and composting food waste and materials used in… Read More
Type: Resources
The Stephanie Davis Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Award and Scholarship is an enduring tribute to Davis, who worked with Health Care Without Harm at its inception in 1996. Davis was a tireless champion of the movement toward sustainable health care who worked to reduce waste and eliminate the use of harmful chemicals and materials in health care products and processes. The awardees will receive scholarships to attend CleanMed 2022.
Join us in celebrating this year’s five awardees.
David Blitzer
“I am so humbled and excited to be receiving this award. I have a strong personal… Read More
Type: Press
The August 2015 monthly newsletter from the Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment features notable achievements by MedStar facilities. MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center implemented a successful waste segregation program that decreased regulated medical waste and increased recycling inside the operating rooms, while MedStar Montgomery Medical Center held ten sustainability and wellness events. View this resource to learn more.
Type: Resources
Brian Nelson
Sustainability programs manager at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center
Number of beds: 450 licensed (386 staffed)
Number of FTE: 4,925
PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center’s sustainability programs manager shares how dedicated colleagues and collaborations support the hospital’s sustainability initiatives and their hospital's “secret green weapon.”
How has Practice Greenhealth supported you and your work?
The opportunity to be able to reach out to sustainability colleagues who understand the issues that I’m navigating and learn how they achieved… Read More
Type: Press
Metrowest Medical Center became interested in reusable sterilization containers when the manager of sterile processing department decreased use of disposable blue wrap as a cost-saving measure. Projections included a 5-year savings of $84,000 and a 10-year savings of $233,000.
Type: Resources
The operating room generates a large volume of disposable plastics, ranging from single-use medical devices to packaging to sterile wrap to plastic pour bottles for irrigation. The vast majority of these items go out the door as waste—either with regulated medical waste (where comprehensive segregation efforts have not yet been undertaken) or as solid waste or recycling. More efficient than disposing of waste in the least impactful way is preventing generation of waste altogether, and evaluating the potential to transition some items from disposable to reusable while still ensuring infection… Read More
Type: Resources
In August 2014, Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) engaged McKinstry to create a long-term energy and water use reduction master plan focused on their downtown campus. The overarching goal during the development of the plan was to provide a roadmap and multi-year action plan for how VMMC can reduce energy and water use to achieve the 2030 Seattle District energy goals. This is an opportunity to upgrade aging infrastructure and improve VMMC’s facilities for better patient and staff satisfaction and patient outcomes. This document is the culmination of that development and includes both the… Read More
Type: Resources
Traditional methods of removing fluid medical waste from the operating room are being replaced in many places by fluid management systems that collect and discharge contents directly into the sanitary sewer.
Fluid management systems can replace single-use disposable plastic suction canisters, chemical solidifiers (itself an exposure risk), and significantly reduce waste disposal costs. Additional available safety features include smoke evacuation, precise vacuum control, fluid measurement, air filtration, and enclosed processing which further reduces occupational exposure risk.
Fluid… Read More
Type: Basic page
As chronic disease management statistics continue to grow, health care is focused on reversing that trend. We now know certain types of cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, reproductive health and fertility problems and asthma are some of the chronic diseases that can be linked in some way to the harmful chemicals we are all exposed to.
Hackensack University Medical Center has built a strong foundation by implementing a safer chemicals policy and including safer chemicals as a standing agenda item at the Environment of Care committee meetings.
Type: Resources
Northshore University Health System has implemented waste management and recycling programs in the operating room. Employee education, staff engagement, and other initiatives have resulted in an increase in recycling rates and reductions in medical and solid waste. Open the presentation to see how Northshore was able to make sustainability improvements.
Type: Resources
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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.
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Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada. Partnership opportunities include hospitals, health systems, community health organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, government, academic institutions, and the health care value chain.