2015 ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS GUIDE


 


Greening the cleaning process Keeping the healthcare environment clean, safe, sustainable by Susan Cantrell, ELS


 


n the article “10 Reasons Health Care Needs Sustainability Treatments,” Janet Howard stated, “Hospitals have a mission to help the elderly and the weak, but don’t always walk the walk ... What is the value of long-term success if it’s on an uninhabitable planet? When framing envi- ronmental stewardship activities, it helps to review a hospital’s mission statement. Most of these focus on health and healing, communities, quality and safety. Some hos- pitals have created environmental charters to frame their commitment.”1 Practice Greenhealth is an organization that helps hospitals to walk the walk. It grew out of Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), whose goals included helping healthcare organizations eliminate the use of mercury, minimize waste, address chemical toxicity reduction, and provide education around pollution prevention and toxics reduction. “As EPA grants dwindled, a new business model was developed under a new name: Practice Greenhealth,” explained Beth Eckl, Director, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Practice Greenhealth, Reston, VA. “Since 2008, Practice Greenhealth con- tinues those goals, growing to over 1,300 members, including hospi- tals, health systems, group purchasing organizations, and others.


 


I “Hospitals receive cutting-


 


edge training and education programs, bringing years of experience to build and inte- grate sustainability programs in many of the national’s lead- ing hospitals,” explained Eckl. “A key strategy to achieving sustainability is working with the supply chain to recognize


 


Eckl talked about one of their programs. “Our Environmental Circles of Excellence awards recognize hospitals for outstanding performance in one specifi c area of exper- tise, including Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP). This past year, we recog- nized ten hospitals, not only in procuring environmentally preferable products but also in establishing leadership commit- ment and internal processes to support EPP successes.”2


 


An award-winning example of a health- care facility with sustainability as its mis- sion is Broward Health, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Brian Bravo, CMRP, Corporate Procurement Officer and Director of Materials Management, offered a little history on how their mission devel- oped over time. “Broward Health has been involved


 


Brian Bravo Practice Greenhealth's


 


Greenhealth Academy offers programs covering all aspects of sustainability in healthcare.


 


the connection between the healing mission and the products and services purchased. Greening the Supply Chain Initiative was created to bring together hospitals, group purchasing organizations, and many others to create tools and resources to guide envi- ronmental purchasing efforts.” Practice Greenhealth recognizes health organizations that are leaders in sustain- ability through their awards programs.


 


in, and recognized the importance of, environmental stewardship long before officially adopting a ‘green’ purchas- ing policy in 2010, winning the Broward County Environmental Protection Agency’s Emerald Award every year since 2000. It’s with the implementation of its ‘Go Green Save Green’ initiative, in conjunction with its offi cial environmen- tal stewardship policy, that Broward Health began to track, monitor, and promote its green purchasing efforts on a broader scale. This allowed for Broward Health to share its successes and aid in ending the myth that it ‘always’ costs more to go green.” At Broward Health, it was


 


recognized that good environmental stew- ardship does not end with them. They saw the need to extend their environmentally preferred and sustainable procurement prac- tices to their vendors and business partners. “Broward Health requires vendors respond- ing to all formal bids to provide information on their company’s green policy and, when feasible, will support these companies’ products and services, as long as existing


 


28 September 2015 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • www.hpnonline.com


 


sourcing practices and patient care is not compromised,” explained Bravo. Their efforts have been rewarded. Between 2011 to 2015, ”From 2012 through 2014, Broward Health has been able to divert 6,322,690 pounds of waste from landfi lls and saved $3,366,113 within its top three green Initiatives: reprocessing of single-use devices (SUDs), operating room (OR) waste reduc- tion, and integrated waste-stream solution (IWSS) programs.” La Rae Floyd, Supply Diversity Manager, listed Broward Health’s system- wide green initiatives: • Reprocessing of SUDs (e.g., pulse oximetry, ultra- sonic scalpels, tourniquet cuffs, electrophysiology catheters and cables


 


La Rae Floyd


 


• IWSS (municipal, regulated, pharmacy, and hazardous-waste reduction)


 


• Recycling (paper, plastics, glass, alumi- num, lamps, cardboard)


 


• E-waste (e.g., hard drives, batteries) • Food waste (solid food waste converted to liquid)


 


• OR waste reduction (medical/surgical kits and packs)


 


• Recovery of solvents (formalin, alcohol, xylene)


 


• Green offi ce supplies (post-consumer and industrial)


 


• Green cleaning supplies and systems (pa- per products)


 


• Leaner energy (products, plant equipment, computers)


 


• Information-system green initiatives (stage 6 of 7, Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model from Health Information Management Systems Society; wireless computer workstations on wheels (energy- effi cient, 15 watts versus 150 watts), unin- terrupted power supply (energy-effi cient and battery recycling)


 


Safer products for disinfection/sterilization Disinfection and sterilization of surgical instruments is an area where danger- ous chemicals are used on a daily basis. Constance Capiotis, Marketing Manager,


 


See 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS GUIDE on page 30


 


INFECTION PREVENTION

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70