White House Highlights Healthier Hospitals Initiative’s Success in Reducing Environmental Impact and Costs


Healthier Hospitals Initiative

 

 

 

Senior Administration Officials, Leading Hospital Administrators and Policy Experts Gather to Discuss the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Greening Hospitals

Fairfax, Virginia – (July 27, 2012) — The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will today facilitate discussions among leaders in health care and policy to highlight the Healthier Hospitals Initiative’s (HHI) successful efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of hospitals, lower costs and improve patient health by incorporating sustainability initiatives into their business models.

As research increasingly links environmental factors with chronic disease Inova joined the Initiative to adopt sustainability efforts that will promote health and well-being for patients, hospital staff and members of the community.  “”Engagement is the currency of culture change,” said J. Knox Singleton, CEO, Inova Health System.

Over ten leaders of the health and environmental sectors will take part in two panel discussions: “Fostering a Culture of Environmental Sustainability” and “Healthier Hospitals Initiative: Transforming the Supply Chain.”  As part of these discussions, officials will address the impact these efforts have on hospital purchasing decisions, the health care supply chain and the overall business of the health care sector.

Senior Administration officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge will be in attendance.  Additionally, several of the nation’s largest health systems will participate in the discussions, illustrating the widely recognized benefits of implementing smarter business practices across and beyond the health industry.  The major health systems and distinguished speakers include:

•    J. Knox Singleton, CEO, Inova Health System
•    Seema Wadhwa, Director, Healthier Hospitals Initiative
•    Gary Cohen, President, Health Care Without Harm, and Founder of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative
•    Kathy Gerwig, Vice President, Workplace Safety and Environmental Stewardship Officer, Kaiser Permanente
•    Al Iannuzzi, Senior Director Product Stewardship, Worldwide Environment, Health and Safety at Johnson & Johnson
•    John Messervy, AIA, Director of Capital and Facility Planning, Partners HealthCare
•    Brad Perkins, MD, Executive Vice President for Strategy & Innovation, & Chief Transformation Officer, Vanguard Health Systems
•    Blair Sadler, Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; former CEO of Rady Children’s Hospital
•    Jeff Thompson, MD, CEO, Gundersen Health System
•    Christina Vernon, Executive Sustainability Officer, Cleveland Clinic

“By implementing the challenges put forth by the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, enrolled hospitals are working to improve the environment, the health of our patients and to lower costs,” said Gary Cohen, president of Health Care Without Harm and founder of HHI.  “The Initiative is leading the health care sector in reducing bottom-line costs.  In addition, HHI is working to transform the industry as a whole by encouraging all hospitals to purchase more environmentally-preferable supplies, serve healthier foods, use less energy, reduce waste and more.”

HHI is an industry-led initiative that calls upon the nation’s hospitals to commit to the three-year Initiative to improve the health and safety of patients, staff and communities by implementing at least one of the six challenges:
•    Engaged Leadership Challenge: engage in leadership on environmental health and sustainability
•    Healthier Food Challenge: serve healthier foods and beverages
•    Leaner Energy Challenge: reduce energy use
•    Less Waste Challenge: reduce waste and recycle
•    Safer Chemicals Challenge: use safer chemicals
•    Smarter Purchasing Challenge: purchase environmentally preferable products

Visit HHI’s website to learn more about the Initiative.

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About Inova
Inova is a not-for-profit health care system located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, serving over two million people with over 1,700 licensed beds based in Northern Virginia.  Inova consists of five hospitals including the area’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care unit.  Inova encompasses many health services including the nationally and internationally recognized Inova Heart and Vascular Institute (IHVI), Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI) on genomics, Inova Neuroscience Institute and Inova Children’s Hospital.  Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research.  More information and statistics about Inova is at www.inova.org.

About the Healthier Hospitals Initiative
The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) is a national campaign to implement a completely new approach to improving environmental health and sustainability in the health care sector.  Eleven of the largest, most influential U.S. health systems, comprising approximately 500 hospitals with more than $20 billion in purchasing power, worked with Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth to create HHI as a guide for hospitals to improve sustainability in six key areas: engaged leadership, healthier foods, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals, and smarter purchasing.  Sponsoring health systems include Advocate Health Care, Bon Secours Health System, Catholic Health Initiatives, Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), Hospital Corporation of America, Inova Health System, Kaiser Permanente, MedStar Health, Partners HealthCare, Tenet Health Systems and Vanguard Health Systems. More information is available at www.healthierhospitals.org.  

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Contact: Susan Miller, 703-283-5144

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