Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital achieves further recognition for 'green' efforts
DOWNERS GROVE - Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital is again among the 25 most "green" hospitals in the country, according to the nation's leading health care environmental stewardship organization.
Practice Greenhealth's Top 25 Environmental Excellence Awards recognize facilities that are setting the highest standards for environmental practices in health care. Winners are those with highest overall scoring; they must also meet key performance indicator targets in a variety of subcategories.
Additionally, Good Samaritan Hospital was named to three of Practice Greenhealth's circles of excellence, in the categories of leadership, environmentally preferable purchasing and energy.
"Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital is honored to be recognized as one of the top 25 sustainable hospitals in the country," said Laura Neiberg, vice president of support services. "This honor would not be possible without the leadership and commitment of our green team members and all of our Good Samaritan associates."
Good Samaritan Hospital has reduced energy consumption by almost 13 percent from 2008 to 2015 by implementing the following tactics: investing in a cleaning robot to thoroughly sanitize areas using ultraviolet light instead of harsh chemicals, increasing the use of Green Seal-certified chemical spending (which was 97.1 percent of total chemical cleaner spending in 2014), installing LED lighting and occupancy sensors in all operating suites, encouraging departments to clean out their areas and bring unneeded office supplies to a central location to be swapped or donated, completing modifications to the drainage system across campus to reduce water use and runoff, and installing an electric car charging station in one of the hospital's parking garages.
"We are so proud to have earned this prestigious award," said Cindy Keith, green team leader and quality improvement/safety analyst at Good Samaritan Hospital. "We push our sustainability practices to the limit because we want to demonstrate leadership in the health care sector and our community."
While the 25 hospitals presented with Practice Greenhealth's highest honors vary greatly in size, they are all leading the country in health care sustainability and have the data and documentation to prove their success. "These hospitals have exemplary sustainability programs and are defined as the go-to leaders in the health care industry," according to Practice Greenhealth.
The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards were presented in Portland, Ore., May 14 at the CleanMed Conference & Exhibition.
About Practice Greenhealth: Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge. To learn more about Practice Greenhealth, visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.