Launched in April 2012, HHI is a national campaign to improve health of patients, staff and the community; reduce environmental impact by the sector and experience considerable fiscal savings that reduce the overall national healthcare costs through better public health.
The data in the report was collected from HHI-member hospitals in six key ”challenge” areas: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals and smarter purchasing.
“HHI is a multi-year campaign and our first Milestone Report shows movement toward delivering a more sustainable hospital environment,” said Gary Cohen, president, Health Care Without Harm and founder of Healthier Hospitals Initiative. “This report is a baseline from which we can move forward and continue to measure our future successes by encouraging hospitals to purchase more environmentally preferable supplies, serve healthier foods, use less energy, reduce waste and more.”
Led by 13 sponsoring health systems that represent more than 500 hospitals with more than $20 billion in purchasing power and in conjunction with three nonprofit organizations — HCWH, The Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth — HHI aims to advocate for environmentally responsible health practices by spurring sustainable change across the healthcare industry.
Each HHI member has committed to improve the health and safety of patients, staff and communities by implementing at least one of the challenges. The 2012 HHI Milestone Report summarizes the Initiative’s first year of progress, with 370 HHI enrollees of all sizes and types contributing their experiences to the data. Some of the report’s key findings include:
- More than 50 million pounds of materials recycled, plus an additional 61.5 million pounds of construction and demolition waste kept out of landfills through reuse and recycling.
- About $32 million in savings resulting from single-use medical device reprocessing.
- Nearly $9 million spent on local/sustainable food options.
- Almost $19 million spent on healthier, PVC/DEHP-free medical products.
The 25 success stories highlighted in the report represent hospitals of varying sizes and geographic locations and include:
- Advocate Health Care, Oak Brook, Ill. (Chicago)
- Beaumont Health System: Oakland County, Mich.
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
- Bon Secours, Baltimore, Md.
- Catholic Health Initiatives Franciscan Health System, Tacoma, Wash.
- Dignity Health San Francisco, Calif.
- Gundersen Health, LaCrosse, Wis.
- Hospital Corporation of America, Nashville, Tenn.
- Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Medical Center, Newport Beach, Irvine, Calif.
- Inova, Falls Church, Va. (D.C.)
- Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.
- MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, Baltimore, Md.
- Partners Health Care, Boston, Mass.
- Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Ore.
- Poudre Valley Hospital, University of Colorado Health North, Ft. Collins, Colo.
- Rady’s Children’s Hospital: San Diego, Calif.
- Stanford University Medical Center: Palo Alto, Calif. (San Francisco, San Jose)
- Tenet Healthcare, Dallas, Texas
- The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Ontario
- Union Hospital, Elkton, Md.
- University of California — San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.
- University Hospitals: UH Case Medical Center/UH Ahuja Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
- Vanguard, Nashville TN; MetroWest Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
- Vidant Chowan (Edenton, N.C.) and Vidant Bertie (Windsor, N.C.) Hospitals
- Yale New Haven, New Haven, Conn.
To learn more about the campaign or to download a copy of the full report, visit HHI’s website.
