Ascent Healthcare Receives ''Champions for Change'' Award

Hospitals could be otherwise known as “waste central” – practically everything they use is disposable. Because Ascent Healthcare Solutions is changing that, the company won the sole award this year in its category from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) for actively promoting awareness of environmental stewardship in the healthcare sector.

Ascent reprocesses single-use medical devices and out of 130 entrants, was the only medical device reprocessor to receive an award. Ascent was honored for its environmental initiatives and for helping its hospital and surgery center customers improve their environmental performance.

Ascent’s unique Advantage(TM) program provides hospitals with a one-step, easy-to-use collection system that promotes device reprocessing and recycling and dramatically reduces the use of disposable sharps containers and their contents in rapidly filling landfills. Additionally, the company has pioneered an innovative disinfection technology for its own collection containers that dramatically decreases water consumption and eliminates environmentally harmful cleaning agents.

Since the company’s inception, Ascent’s customers have safely reprocessed in excess of 50 million medical devices, eliminating more than 10,000 tons from local landfills and saving customers more than $500 million in medical device supply costs through reprocessing and recycling medical products. In 2006, Ascent eliminated over 1000 tons of medical waste through recycling and reprocessing; customers saved more than $1.2 million in medical waste stream disposal costs.

The company educates customers and prospects on the value of converting from disposable to reusable sharps containers that potentially could eliminate 15-25 percent of medical waste from landfills. Customers receive waste minimization reports that track their reduction in medical waste. Ascent added the H2E initiative and environmental stewardship to the company’s accredited continuing education units (CEU) program for customers.

“Ascent Healthcare Solutions is at the forefront of a fundamental shift in the healthcare industry toward the proactive improvement of public health,” said Laura Brannen, director of the H2E program. “In driving the sector’s use of healthier and more responsible products and practices, they are making it easier than ever for facilities to operate in a way that protects the health of patients, workers, communities and our global environment.”

Ascent’s 1,700 hospital customers include most of the U.S. News and World Report “Honor Roll” hospitals. The company has agreements with all leading national group purchasing organizations as well as numerous nationally recognized hospital integrated delivery networks.

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www.ascenths.com

H2E is a non-profit organization jointly founded by the American Hospital Association, the US Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm and the American Nurses Association. It educates health care professionals about pollution prevention opportunities, rewards the sector’s best performers, and provides practical tools and resources to facilitate the industry’s move toward environmental sustainability. www.h2e-online.org