Practice Greenhealth Recognizes Washington Hospital for Environmental Programs with Partnership Recognition Award

Fremont, Calif. – Washington Hospital was honored with a “Partner Recognition Award” by Practice Greenhealth, a national membership organization for health care facilities committed to environmentally responsible operations. The award is one of the organization’s Environmental Excellence Awards given each year to honor outstanding environmental achievements in health care sector.

“Washington Hospital has been singled out for their efforts to protect patient health and preserve the environment,” said Bob Jarboe, Executive Director of Practice Greenhealth. “Washington Hospital’s approach to providing health care demonstrates a keen understanding of the impact our activities have on the environment and a commitments to build on the achievements they have made so far.”

The Practice Greenhealth review committee noted that even though Washington Hospital had only recently formalized its comprehensive program in 2008, the Hospital has made a lot of progress. The review committee noted projects such as: recycling, food services composting, electronic recycling, donation of used medical equipment and an annual swap meet for surplus office supplies, single use device reprocessing, implementation of reusable sterilizer containers, and green certification for Washington Hospital’s planned construction.

“Improving environmental performance is an important objective for Washington Hospital,” said Nancy Farber, chief executive officer of Washington Hospital Healthcare System. “For our Hospital, this is a long-term commitment as well as another way to make our Hospital an even better place to provide care to our patients.”

The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards celebrate the achievements and commitment of health care’s environmental champions. This year’s awards were held in conjunction with CleanMed 2009, a global conference for environmental leaders in health care. The Partner Recognition Award is for healthcare facilities that have begun to work on environmental improvements, achieved some progress, and have less than 10 percent recycling rate for the total waste stream.

Washington Hospital Healthcare System includes a 359-bed acute-care hospital; the Taylor McAdam Bell Neuroscience Institute; The Gamma Knife® Center; Washington Radiation Oncology Center; Washington Outpatient Surgery Center; Washington Outpatient Rehabilitation Center; Washington Outpatient Catheterization Laboratory; Washington Center for Joint Replacement; the Institute for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery; and Washington West, a complex which houses Washington Women’s Center, Outpatient Imaging Center and additional outpatient hospital services and administrative facilities. Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals, healthcare systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment.