MARYLAND HEALTH CARE FACILITIES RECOGNIZED FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
Maryland
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (
MD H2E)
honored four Maryland hospitals/ health systems as environmental “Trailblazers,”
for their recent innovative achievements. Additionally, MD H2E honored two
healthcare professionals for their dedication to environmental health and
sustainability. All winners serve as models for those seeking to reduce their
environmental footprint and raise the bar on improved results.
Joan Plisko, Director of MD H2E, presented the awards at the
Maryland Hospital Association annual meeting,
June 1st, at the Four Seasons Baltimore. The winners are:
Adventist Healthcare
(AHC) established a $3 million efficiency
investment fund to be managed as a stand-alone, return-based financing
mechanism. The fund directed investments into sustainability projects such as
LED parking garage retrofits and water conservation measures, with a payback of
just over two years. AHC reduced the 2015 budgets for electricity, gas and
water by 10 percent, 9 percent and 3 percent, respectively. AHC saved 4.7
million kWh of electricity, 4,500 therms of gas, and over 3 million gallons of
water. These savings kept an equivalent amount of emissions out of the air as
the carbon sequestered by 4,000 acres of United States forests in a year, the
energy used by 500 homes for a year and the burning of 6 million pounds of
coal.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) diverted over 7,000 tons of deconstruction debris from a
planned demolition on campus. GBMC razed the outdated North Chapman building to
accommodate additional valet parking amenities. A total of 97 percent of the
material was re-used or recycled, and crushable material was processed onsite
and used as backfill for the new project’s foundation. GBMC provided a portion
of the construction and crushed materials to Baltimore’s Waverly Elementary
School and to local reclamation businesses, putting resources into the local
economy.
The Johns Hopkins
Hospital (JHH) bio-decontaminated
over $90,000 worth of supplies from 18 isolation patient rooms using
vaporized hydrogen peroxide during a 2014 pilot project. Previously, supplies
from these rooms, when not used, were discarded after patient discharge. The
JHH materials management team collected, decontaminated and used these
supplies. The team captured and returned to inventory and circulation over
4,000 pounds of materials otherwise destined for the landfill.
Lifebridge Health
(LBH) instituted a greening the operating
room program by creating sustainability champions as part of surgical teams. LBH
focused on waste reduction efforts by empowering employees and making them an
integral part of the greening process. As a result of this systemic culture
change, LBH reduced medical waste in the operating rooms by 35 percent at Sinai
and Northwest hospitals. Both hospitals
continue to generate only 10 percent of their overall waste as regulated
medical waste, which is considered low among hospitals.
Physician for a Healthy Environment: Dr. Lauren Berkow, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, is a leader in
educating and empowering physicians to become more engaged in sustainability
efforts. Dr. Berkow has played an active role in sustainability efforts at JHH
to green the operating room and speaks internationally on the role of
physicians and anesthesiologists in reducing waste, costs and greenhouse
gasses.
Environmental Health in Nursing:
Justin Graves, RN, University
of Maryland Medical Center,
is a nationally recognized sustainability manager, skilled in collaboration and
sharing best management practices. Justin chairs the hospital green team,
spearheaded programs in waste reduction and healthy foods, and has identified
opportunities to change hospital
purchasing programs that
save money and reduce environmental impact.
The winners will be sharing their success stories and lessons
learned at the MD H2E Trailblazer Event, scheduled for October 23rd,
2015 at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
