Practice Greenhealth Honors Environmental Excellence Awards Winners

RESTON, Va. — Practice Greenhealth, a membership association devoted to environmentally responsible healthcare, has announced its 2013 Environmental Excellence Awards winners.  These coveted awards are given to institutions within the healthcare sector for outstanding programs to reduce the facility’s environmental footprint.

Harborview Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center and Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital were acknowledged with Practice Greenhealth‘s highest award by being admitted to the Environmental Leadership Circle, which honors facilities that exemplify environmental excellence and are setting the highest standards for environmental practices in healthcare.

“Practice Greenhealth award winners demonstrate that the health of their patients, staff and community is central to the core of their mission,” said Practice Greenhealth Executive Director Laura Wenger. “These award winners have a vision that all healthcare organizations should strive for in the future.”

Eleven healthcare systems won the Systems for Change Award, presented to health systems for significant progress in system-wide implementation of environmentally responsible healthcare. These systems include: Advocate Health Care, Bon Secours Health System, Inc., Cleveland Clinic Health System, Covenant Health Systems, Dignity Health, Fairview Health Services, Hospital Sisters Heath System, Inova Health System, Kaiser Permanente, Spectrum Health System and University Hospitals.

Practice Greenhealth honored its top performers at the Environmental Excellence Awards Friday evening in Boston, Mass., at an awards presentation and gala dinner ceremony during CleanMed, the global conference on environmentally sustainable healthcare.  In honor of each of the 320 award winners, and to celebrate the recently signed global mercury-free treaty, Practice Greenhealth has partnered with Health Care Without Harm to sponsor the donation of mercury-free thermometers and sphygmomanometers to two hospitals in Guatemala.

A full list of Practice Greenhealth award winners is listed on the website here.