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(Employee engagement toolkit) The Green Ambassador program trains and certifies Inova employees in sustainability, specifically initiatives and activities which reduce environmental impact and promote health and well-being for patients, employees and the larger community. The goal of the program is to develop a culture of sustainability throughout the organization and incorporate sustainability into everyday decisions and practices which impact operational outcome measures.
Type: Resources
(Less waste toolkit) Learn how Inova Fairfax Hospital, a 900-bed trauma 1 community hospital in Falls Church, Va., reduced 14 percent of red bag waste and saved over $200,000 in waste removal fees.
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
The operating room (OR) is often the largest generator of waste within a hospital setting, and has been estimated to produce between 20-33% of the total waste generated in the hospital despite its diminutive spatial footprint. Of the waste generated by the OR, the largest percentage is often regulated medical waste (RMW), which can costs between 5 and 10 times more than solid waste to dispose of. Much of this cost can be avoided with proper waste segregation.
There are several finite steps an organization can follow to set up and implement a regulatory compliant RMW segregation program.
Type: Resources
This implementation module from the Greening the Operating Room Initiative defines best practices in the OR to reduce environmental impact, cost, increase efficiency, and improve worker and patient safety.
Type: Resources
When considering how to reduce the environmental footprint of the operating room, it makes sense to first revisit the old adage of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. This common sense approach relies on the concept of avoiding use of materials or supplies that are not needed to protect or ensure patient or worker safety (reduce), using a reusable, preprocessed or reposable option where a product must be used, and where no reusable option is available ensure the product is recyclable. The most environmentally unfriendly option is a single-use, disposable product that cannot be recycled at the end of use.… Read More
Type: Resources
Recent hospital data demonstrates that recycling in the OR can generate large volumes of recyclables—in excess of 1000lbs of medical plastics weekly at one large NYC institution with more than 40 ORs/surgical procedure areas. At an average cost of $121 per ton for solid waste disposal and a price tag of $68 per ton for recycling the same material a hospital might pay nearly twice the price for medical plastics disposal if the facility does not choose to recycle.
There are several finite steps an organization can follow to set up and implement a medical plastics recycling program in the OR…
Type: Resources
A large portion of surgical waste is liquid waste — blood and body fluids diverted during surgery. This waste stream is typically collected in disposable plastic suction canisters. Hospitals are finding that another option—fluid management systems that empty liquids directly to the sanitary sewer—are safer for staff, better for the environment and offer long-term cost-savings.
Type: Resources
Hospital sustainability programs reduce costs and enhance the quality of patient care. However, given the long list of priorities that hospitals must tackle, sustainability too often falls by the wayside. Today, the benefits of sustainability are too important to ignore. The operating room is often the largest generator of revenue, as well as the largest consumer of supply costs and the biggest generator of waste. Sustainability in the operating room is a multipronged initiative that can include, but is not limited to, recycling and reprocessing equipment; reducing prescription drug waste;… Read More
Type: Resources
(Employee engagement toolkit) The rate at which Cleveland Clinic uses energy has financial costs, as well as human and environmental health impacts. Reducing the rate of energy used creates a cleaner environment, improves health, and delivers substantial cost savings over the short and long term. In pursuit of care affordability, over $12M of energy waste was identified across the health system. As the facilities experts fine-tune and upgrade buildings and operating systems, caregivers’ workplace behaviors come into sharp focus to help reduce energy demand.
Type: Resources
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