Inova Health System Joins Effort to Green the Nation’s Operating Rooms
Greening the OR Initiative Strives to Reduce Waste, Encourages Reuse and Recycling
Falls Church, VA – (March 17, 2011) – Inova Health System is officially part of the Greening the Operating Room™ Initiative to help reduce the environmental impact of the nation’s operating rooms. Spearheaded by Practice Greenhealth, the initiative is an effort to raise awareness of the large contribution made by operating rooms to a hospital’s waste stream, which can produce between 20 to 30 percent of a hospital’s total waste.
Along with 95 other healthcare organizations, Inova will focus on areas for ‘green’ components in the operating room which include:
- Single-use device reprocessing
- Fluid waste management systems
- Regulated medical waste minimization and segregation
- Substitution of reusable hard cases for blue sterile wrap
- Recycling of medical plastics
- Medical equipment and supplies donation
Inova has made a commitment to pursue sustainable ways of approaching each aspect of its business – from new construction to monitoring the energy use, waste and recycling involved in day-to-day operations. Inova is a charter member of Practice Greenhealth (the nation’s leading organization for healthcare institutions that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices) and is a founding organization of the National Capital Region Sustainable Healthcare Alliance.
Additional information about the Greening the OR Initiative is available on-line at www.greeningtheor.org.
About Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in healthcare that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. To learn more about Practice Greenhealth, visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.
About Inova Health System
Inova Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research. Inova provides a healthy environment for its patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians by prohibiting tobacco use on its campuses.
CEO of Sustainable and Environment Initiatives,
An invitation was sent out in the December or January in the Healthcare without Harm and Practice Green health list serve (i.e. National newsletter) to participate in my research project. The research project focuses on sustainable and environment initiatives of the Healthier Hospital pledge signers. In the next several weeks I will be connecting with directors, leaders, managers in the area of greening initiatives with an invitation to participate in my poject. The benefits your leaders and employees can receive is additional hard driven data of the leadership and employee engagement in successfully meeting your overall organizational greening strategies. The research project will be from Mind garden, in care of me Cecily Cornish . My email contact is cecilycornish @gmail.com. The research focuses on pro-environmental, sustainable, and greening practices with a snapshot in food sustainability. Please connect me with the appropriate contact person.
Sincere Regards
Cecily C.
Researcher/Mindgarden/Piedmont International University