Hospitals

Hospitals produce more than two million tons of waste each year. Federal and state governments are reshaping environmental regulations that relate to hospitals.

MnTAP is helping Minnesota hospitals minimize their waste in order to cut operating cost by using the tools of the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program. H2E is a joint effort by the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, Health Care Without Harm and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve environmental performance in health care.

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment Since 1998, the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have worked together under Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) to develop resources to help hospitals reduce mercury and waste. The aim is to eliminate mercury and other toxic chemicals from the health care waste stream by 2005 and reduce overall hospital waste by 50 percent by 2010.

H2E and Environmental Awareness Sample Pledge
Ridgeview Medical Center adopted an Environmental Awareness Pledge that includes plans to meet the goals of H2E.

Minnesota H2E Environmental Leadership Award Winner Ridgeview Medical Center, Waconia, received the nation’s most prestigious recognition of innovation in environmentally responsible health care in 2007.

H2E Partners Partners work towards the goals of H2E within their facilities. See how your facility can become an H2E partner.

H2E Partners in Minnesota

• Abbot Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
• Austin Medical Center-Mayo Health System
• Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) - Lake Wood Health Center Baudette
• CHI - St. Gabriel's Hospital, Little Falls
• Duluth Clinic Health System
• Fairview University Medical Center, Minneapolis
• First Care Medical Services, Fosston
• Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis
• Hutchinson Area Health Care, Hutchinson
• Mercy Hospital & Health Care Center, Moose Lake
• New Ulm Medical Center
• Northfield Hospital and Skilled Nursing Facility
• Park Nicollet Health Services, St. Louis Park
• Parker Hughes Institute, Roseville
• Redwood Area Hospital, Redwood Falls
• Rice Memorial Hospital, Willmar
• Ridgeview Medical Center, Waconia
• St. Francis Medical Center, Breckenridge
• St. Joseph Area Health Services, Park Rapids
• St. Joseph's Medical Center, Brainerd
• St. Luke's Hospital & Regional Trauma Center, Duluth
• St. Mary's Medical Center, Duluth
• United Hospital, St. Paul

Joint Commission
The Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires health care facilities to meet performance standards in specific areas. The standards are set to achieve maximum performance for activities affecting the quality of care at the facility. To meet standards, health care facilities must develop performance improvement initiatives.

Environment of Care The environmental services (ES) feature article "Clean care" in Health Facilities Management Magazine outlines how ES managers can develop pollution prevention strategies into JCAHO performance improvement initiatives.

Meeting JCAHO Standards with Pollution Prevention Pollution prevention (P2) activities make great performance improvement initiatives. They can help you achieve JCAHO standards included in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH)—JCAHO's most frequently used accreditation program—and meet rules, regulations and the goals of Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E). They also promote the health of the public-keeping in line with the basic premise of health care.

Energy
Energy Star U.S. EPA provides information on energy-saving equipment and case studies on health care facilities that have cut costs by reducing their energy use.

Recommissioning/Commissioning The Center for Energy and Environment has case studies on how health care facilities have improved operation and maintenance of building systems to meet operational needs, while using only as much energy as necessary.

Additional information on process-related energy conservation, including steam management.

Other Resources
Group Purchasing Organization: Sample Letter Requesting Less-Toxic Products Health care providers deeply committed to public health are seeking to reduce the size of their "environmental footprint." Use the text select tool to cut and paste this text into a letter to your hospital group purchasing organization to request less-toxic products. Customize as appropriate.

Reducing Pharmaceutical Waste from Patient Care Settings
Hospitals are reporting 10-fold increases in costs for managing pharmaceutical waste. This fact sheet offers guidance on how to minimize the amount of unwanted or expired medication, including information on epinephrine, purchasing/inventory management and sample waste. Pharmaceuticals should not be disposed of down drains or toilets.

Ridgeview Hospital Wins Award Ridgeview Hospital won a 2003 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention for its Sustainable Mission.

Ridgeview Medical Center Plans for a Sustainable Community Ridgeview Medical Center decided to become a model sustainable hospital—the first of its kind in the nation.

Suction Canister Waste Reduction A study found that about 40 percent of the infectious waste from hospital operating rooms is suction canister waste. To help facilities reduce suction canister waste, MnTAP maintains this list of canister-free and reusable canister vacuum systems.

Sustainable Hospitals Project Provides technical support to the health care industry by selecting products and work practices that reduce environmental and occupational hazards, maintain quality patient care and contain costs.

Waste Source Reduction: Hospital Case Study The Itasca Medical Center is a 108 bed community hospital with an attached 35 bed convalescent nursing care facility. The hospital made a commitment to source reduce its waste as much as possible. Secondarily, what they could not reduce they committed themselves to recycle.