Dignity Health Central Coast Hospitals Receive Environmental Excellence Awards
CENTRAL COAST, CA – May 10, 2018 – Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH), French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) and Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), all Dignity Health Central Coast hospitals, are proud to announce they have been honored for the third time with Environmental Excellence Awards from Practice Greenhealth. All three campuses received the 2018 Greenhealth Partner for Change Award and AGCH also received the 2018 Greening the OR Recognition Award. These awards are given each year to honor environmental achievements in the health care sector. All three hospitals received the awards in San Diego, CA on May 9, 2018.
Dignity Health Central Coast hospitals have taken many steps to reduce waste while improving the health of our local environment. MRMC campus is one of the few facilities generating renewable energy from two cogenerations plants on-site. By utilizing methane gas piped in from the Santa Maria landfill, one third of Marian’s energy usage come from renewable sources. FHMC used over 3,400 pounds of reprocessed medical devices in 2016, resulting in a total savings of $97,636. The amount of plastic diverted from landfill increased from 11,885 lb in 2015 to 15,300 lbs in 2016. By using drought-friendly plants for its landscaping, AGCH has reduced irrigation by 35 percent and overall water usage by 3 percent.
“We are proud to have achieved this award after such an intense focus on improving our environmental impact for a number of years. It has truly been a collaborative effort between many different departments, and we are proud that our team has been recognized for these efforts,” says Heidi Summers, Senior Director of Mission Integration and Education.
Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading membership and network organization in health care, is committed to sustainability principles and practices to protect patient, staff, community and environmental health. These Environmental Excellence awards recognize health care facilities that continuously improve and expand upon programs to eliminate mercury, reduce and recycle waste, source products sustainably, and more.
The Partner for Change Award recognizes health care facilities that continuously improve and expand upon programs to eliminate mercury, reduce and recycle waste, source products sustainably, and more. Winning facilities must demonstrate that they are recycling at least 15 percent of their total waste, have reduced regulated medical waste, are on track to eliminate mercury, and have developed successful sustainability programs in many areas. Recipients of the 2018 Partner for Change Award must provide current year waste, energy and water data, recycle 10% or more of total waste stream, and share successful sustainability projects. Dignity Health Central Coast hospitals demonstrate this dedication in ways including: reporting gas emissions, improved utility consumption, and expansion of multiple environmental programs, such as the co-generation energy, green purchasing, recycling and toxic elimination programs. Dignity Health Central Coast continues to provide optimized patient care and employee and patient safety, all while minimizing environmental impact.
The Greening the OR Award recognizes the facility demonstrating the most success in reducing the environmental impact of its surgical suites. Operating rooms are large contributors to a health care facility’s environmental footprint, creating opportunity for significant cost savings and sustainability improvements.
Practice Greenhealth’s Partner for Change Award and Greening the OR Award both reinforce the active role AGCH, FHMC, and MRMC are committed to sustaining in helping our environment. All Dignity Health facilities share an obligation to supporting the community and the environment. Through current and future sustainability initiatives, Dignity Health continues to measure, manage and report its collective impact on the environment, ensuring the most positive impact possible.
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About Dignity Health Central Coast
Dignity Health Central Coast is comprised of five hospitals, all recognized for their quality of care, safety and service, primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically advanced imaging centers, outpatient services and comprehensive home health services. Hospitals in the Dignity Health Central Coast region include Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo and St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to provide additional funding to support new programs and services, as well as to advance the community’s access to health care. For more information, visit: www.dignityhealth.org/centralcoast
Publish date:
Thursday, May 10, 2018