70 Hospitals Receive Environmental Leadership Awards

The annual Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) Awards is the premier national recognition of environmental innovation in health care. This year, the H2E program awarded over 70 hospitals, health systems and healthcare organizations for outstanding achievement in reducing waste, virtually eliminating mercury, and minimizing the use of toxic products.

From maintaining a phenomenal 40% recycling rate, to reducing regulated medical waste, to reducing water usage by 480,000 gallons by switching to microfiber mops, this year’s Environmental Leadership Award winners are increasing the environmental performance in health care.

Health care institutions are:

Reducing red bag waste
Collecting mercury thermometers
Purchasing recycled copy paper, toilet tissue and paper towels
Cultivating organic gardens to grow herbs and vegetables for the cafeteria
Closing incinerators
Donating food to food banks
Buying reusable wash basins and admission kits, eliminating disposables

This year’s Environmental Leadership Award winners:

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland, CA
Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
Foote Health System, Jackson, MI
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Region, Honolulu, HI
Sparrow Health System, Lansing, MI
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Hospitals & Health Centers, Ann Arbor, MI

H2E is creating a national movement for environmental sustainability in health care. As a joint project of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association and Health Care Without Harm, its goals are to eliminate the use of mercury in healthcare; to cut health care waste; and to phase out the use of hazardous substances and persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic chemicals in the health care sector.

www.h2e-online.org