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Rigid sterilization containers can be a sustainable, safe alternative to polypropylene “blue wrap” for sterile operating room equipment.
Incorporating the cost of rigid sterilization containers into annual capital budgeting processes such that requests for new instrument sets include a rigid sterilization container can help offset upfront cost, especially when used on high-volume, commonly used instrument sets or items. The effort has long-term cost-saving benefits by reducing the amount of blue wrap and other single-use sterilization materials, like sterile indicator tape, which may require… Read More
Type: Basic page
Michael Matos
Michael Matos, green initiative liaison for Montefiore Health System, has 15 years of experience in healthcare and six years in waste management. He’s been responsible for creating, implementing, managing, and tracking a variety of programs and initiatives throughout the New York City health system. Matos successfully implemented several projects that resulted in significant cost savings, waste reduction, process improvement, and optimization of staff time.
Tell us about your work at Montefiore.
Matos: I’m involved with all things sustainability, but… Read More
Type: Press
Dustin Maddy
Sustainability Program Analyst at Centra Care St. Cloud Hospital
Number of beds: 489 licensed beds (309) 798 total
Number of FTE: 13,000 + 15,000 volunteers
Dustin Maddy has served CentraCare as the sustainability program analyst for the last nine years. Read about the impact both physicians and a maintenance worker are having on the health system’s leadership and sustainability journey.
How has Practice Greenhealth supported you and your work?
Practice Greenhealth has been great at providing best practices on a whole array of topics. It is nice… Read More
Type: Press
The 12 health systems announced signing the Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC) to build healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient local economies through how they spend their dollars. The commitment directs health care purchasing toward industries that decrease their carbon footprint, produce safer products and services, and grow economic opportunities for people of color- and women-owned businesses by at least $1 billion over five years.
“The health care sectors’ oath to ‘do no harm’ cannot solely focus on treating the mass of patients descending through their doors amidst a pandemic,… Read More
Type: Press
Recruitment, retention and satisfaction is on the mind of health care leaders. 2018 marked an 18.5 percent turnover rate in the health care sector, the highest rate in a decade. Last year, 24 percent of new hires left within a year. High turnover combined with health care growth is creating staffing gaps, which impact the bottom line. The average cost for one replaced health care worker is $60,000.
The next generation of health care workers seek employers that share their values and beliefs. Surveys indicate that most people are concerned about climate change and the number of people… Read More
Type: Resources
Concerns over infection prevention, continued increase in the use of single-use, disposable plastics, and changes in international recycling markets and a lack of U.S.-based material recovery facilities have left operating rooms awash in single-use medical plastics. Additionally, a 0.5 percent contamination rate requirement on marketable medical plastics has challenged the compliance of many hospital recycling programs.
One ubiquitous medical plastic, ”blue wrap,” is estimated to make up almost 20 percent of all operating room waste. While these plastics do an excellent job of keeping… Read More
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Introduction to carbon offsets
A carbon offset is a project or activity that reduces emissions of greenhouse gases to compensate for emissions created elsewhere. The Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change offers the public and private sector in high-income nations the opportunity to purchase carbon credits from offset projects in low- or middle-income nations. Common types of offset projects include forestry and land use, renewable energy, energy efficiency, methane destruction, industrial gases, fuel switching, and clean cookstoves.
Carbon… Read More
Type: Basic page
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… 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.
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Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,500 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.